Lowie

With rumours of a Herne Hill deli opening a branch on the Triangle, it seems independent South London micro chains are thriving. There's the long established Blackbird, now with branches in Peckham, Herne Hill and Balham; also Beer Rebellion and the newly arrived Craft Palace, both establishing themselves across South London; and of course the hugely popular Brown & Green cafes. And now we can add clothing store Lowie which opened a couple of months ago, on the site vacated by Glitter and Twisted.
Lowie was started by Australian, Bronwyn Lowenthal 15 years ago, originally as a market stall at Portobello and Spitalfields. She then began wholesaling, and also trying out retail with pop-ups in Covent Garden and Westfield, White City. That was followed by a further pop-up in Herne Hill. There, she kept extending her lease until it became her first permanent store. As she says, the pop-ups really helped with confidence building, and spreading the word about the brand. No doubt her degree in Retail Management and Fashion Marketing helped, along with a more recent MBA, also helped. Originally from Hobart, Tasmania, she worked in Australia for Westfield shopping centres in the marketing department, before coming to the UK in 1999.
The new store is bright and spacious, and is a simple, unfussy backdrop for her colourful merchandise, which is a mix of her own label clothing, alongside other clothing brands, skincare ranges, accessories, and gift items, but all essentially things that Bronwyn likes, and things that are fun. After the success of the Herne Hill store, she felt the shop's style was perfectly suited to the character of Crystal Palace, which she enjoyed visiting, particularly for the antiques and vintage, but which she had noticed, was distinctly lacking in the womenswear department. Now that's been remedied, who knows which other businesses might follow?

Bronwyn Lowenthal

Lowie

25 Westow Street