Fashion: The pop-up boutique - Now you see it . . .

Nov 27 2008 by Emma Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

Kirsty Doyle lingerie collection 2008 _200

Emma Johnson is eagerly awaiting Liverpool’s first pop-up designer boutique

IMAGINE it, a beautiful clothing boutique appears literally out of nowhere. Suddenly, there are rails dripping with to die-for clothes and shelves bursting with must-have handbags.

Then, as quickly as it emerged, it vanishes as if nothing ever happened. Those who were lucky enough to find it go away with delicious dresses, and those who didn’t curse themselves for missing a major fashion moment.

That is the thinking behind the pop-up boutique, the latest fashion craze that has seen a Chanel store magically appear in New York’s Central Park and Commes Des Garcons suddenly begin selling tailored suits in downtown LA.

Now the cool concept is coming to Liverpool, courtesy of our own style star Kirsty Doyle. The 25-year-old fashion designer, from Anfield, came to public attention in 2006 when she won Sky One’s Project Catwalk programme, delighting judges like Julien Macdonald and Ben di Lisi with her avant garde designs.

Two years later, and she has had a range with Littlewoods and her couture line is on sale in Liverpool’s Cricket boutique.

This weekend, she will be inviting fashion lovers to the city’s first-ever pop-up boutique at Grey Space, on Water Street.

Already, Grey Space has played host to some of the year’s style highlights, including the Fashion Exchange exhibition of clothes from Naomi Campbell’s Fashion Relief show, and the recent Cricket fashion show, and Kirsty thinks the time is ripe for such an event.

“Gone are the days when girls looked to London for fashion inspiration – with the likes of Coleen Rooney and Abbey Clancy leading the way in the style stakes, all eyes are now on Liverpool as the unofficial UK Capital of fashion,” explains Kirsty.

“Liverpool’s fashion sense makes us stand out from the crowd. There is more of an air of glamour here, and we wanted to do something to celebrate this.

“No-one will have seen anything like this before in Liverpool,” she adds. “Chanel did one in New York which people said was amazing, and they pop up all the time in warehouses in London and in Dover Street market.

“They’re about generating excitement and giving people something they can’t get anywhere else.