Topman General Store

Topman opened its first General Store in Spitalfields last year, selling the finest of the Arcadia menswear chain’s apparel alongside handpicked pieces of designer and niche labels like Pendleton and Happy Socks. Unsurprisingly, with B-Store’s Matthew Murphy and the excellent Topman creative director Gordon Richardson writing the stock list, product was tasteful and well presented – with all TM branding conspicuous by its absence. The idea worked beautifully in its spiritual home of indie east London, but it’s been tweaked a bit for this new Covent Garden outpost. In sympathy with the slightly more upmarket surroundings, the store is a little less artfully weathered than its older brother, and a bit more Scandic in feel, with bright whitewashed walls and expensive-looking retro display cabinets from Newington Green vintage furnishers The Peanut Vendor. The product range also has a few nods to the less casual consumer, with smarter Topman Design tailoring, Swear shoes and John Smedley knits sitting alongside Pendleton rucksacks and denim jackets. Ten out of ten again, Topman. We’ll say it again – isn’t it time for a Topshop General Boutique for the girls?