Caine London is the new cult denim brand on the scene, brought to you by musician/stylist duo, Matt Allchin and Hayley Caine.
The AW16 collection, ‘Rub-A-Dub’, consists of handcrafted denim jackets and jeans as well as embroidered sweaters and shirts, and is inspired by everyone’s favourite place: the pub. As a concept, it takes you on a cheerful crawl from ‘The Rising Sun’ to ‘The Half Moon,’ where you’ll shoot some pool and try your luck on the fruit machine; which, coincidentally, is a print which features on one of their shirts.
Combining ‘ye olde pub’ references with their ’90s grunge silhouette, we want to join their party…
How did you meet?
We met in 2013 in a pub in Peckham, Matt had been up all night at a friends party and had a picture of Martin Sheen in his pocket. Hayley was so impressed she hasn’t left him alone since.
Tell us about your collection: ‘Rub-A-Dub’…
The collection, like our meeting is based around the good old-fashioned English boozer. We used some of our favourite pub signs and names as inspiration. We’re constantly being inspired by things around us that don’t seem to be there or appreciated anymore. Our last collection was based on Canal Art and this time we were drawn to the signs above old English pubs, this again seems to be a way of life that is disappearing. It’s hard to find a pub that you would recognise as a traditional pub these days, we wanted to celebrate this.
What’s in the name?
It’s cheeky really it is cockney rhyming slang for ‘pub’. Other options were ‘nuclear sub’ or ‘battle cruiser’ – boozer – but they didn’t seem appropriate or fun enough!
Which are your favourite pubs in London?
Unfortunately many of them are unrecognisable or closed down but we’re always on the look out for those rare bolt holes where you can only pay cash and the duke box is free like the Man of Kent in Nunhead.
You also cite ’90s grunge as an inspiration behind this collection – who were your favourite bands/musicians?
Obviously Nirvana, Sonic youth etc, but we love all music really. During our long painting sessions at the studio we can listen to anything from Bob Marley to 1930s comedy songs about loving bananas ‘coz they have no bones’.
Which is your favourite piece in the collection and why?
You can’t help but smile when you look at The Rising Sun Jacket and he came to represent a turning point in the design process. Once we had that made everything else seemed to flow more easily, we hung him like a talisman in our studio!
You’ve branched out into jeans for AW16 tell us about those… Are there any skirts/dresses etc to follow for next season?
The straight and wide leg jeans are super soft and luxe with a vintage look. Next season were ramping it up a notch so expect anything and everything.
If you had to sum up your brand in three words it would be…
Stylish, fun and irreverent.
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