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Proper Brutal? : Drop Dead Flagship Store Opens

Well, it had to happen at some point.  Its what all young t-shirt designers hope to aspire to.  It’s taken the likes of Johnny Cupcakes a fair few years to get stores opened in Boston and now LA and we can finally see the British equivalent following suit…

That’s right.  Oli Sykes (of Bring Me The Horizon) has opened the flagship store for his clothing company DROP DEAD in Brick Lane, London.

The store opened on May the 1st and, inevitably, the entire area was completely and utterly full to the brim with 14 year old scene kids sporting their entire DD collection twinned with the perfectly sprayed, dyed and extended hair.

Literally everyone and their gran seemed to have gone along, although I think Granny was probably there just because she has a car.

I don’t have a massive problem with Drop Dead.  As far as tshirt companies go, Oli and his brother Tom have managed to develop the company from something that functioned off the back of BMTH to a completely independent company in its own right that has grown to offer not just luminous tees but jeans, jackets, hoodies, the lot.  They also do their best to hire some of the most successful designers working in this scene at the moment.  Their ever-present cat logo, designed by Mike Shantz is just a fraction of his interesting style – obvious enough to appeal to the masses, but gory, or zany enough to attract the kind of kids that love synthy Deathcore.

The shop has been done well looking sufficiently edgy and ‘brick lane’ yet, compared with the likes of Cupcakes’ stores in the US (which feature steam producing fake ovens, tshirts stored in fridges and other WACKY stuff), the Brick Lane flagship might just be a bit boring, with the only visual entertainment being giant photos of Oli Sykes’ perfectly crafted hair bearing down on you from every angle, but that’s only to be expected, and, to be fair, it is marvellous.  My only real problem, and I’m taking some serious issue here, is, for a company that hails as ‘STEEL CITY’S FINEST’, Why the hell isn’t it in Sheffield?  Obviously business will be better in London, but if you’re going to desert your beloved Steel City, then is it not curteous to not cover all your packaging in Sheffield references?

Maybe I’m wrong but it seems that this move and opening will only cause further disillusionment with the Drop Dead name from the followers back in Sheffield that helped it get where it is today.  Head down to the Drop Dead store if you fancy, it can be found on London’s Brick Lane, you may or may not meet Oli but you will definitely see him, there are lots of photos.