The Americans have their denim, the Scotts their tartan. If there is such a thing as a quintessentially English sense of style (and we're not talking football shirts and tattoos), it could be said to exist in abundance at Cath Kidston.
The chain, which began in London in 1993 as a glorified junk shop, has finally landed in the region, rolling out stores in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates and City Centre Me’aisem last September, then at City Walk, Dubai Festival City and City Centre Mirdif in February, and Al Naeem Mall in RAK in January, before finally launching in the capital at Abu Dhabi Mall. And they’re not done yet — the company plans to open more stores later this year across the GCC.
The stores specialise in the Great British vintage look, which only a decade ago would have been shunned by anyone under the age of 65, but has now somehow become cool. They’re awash with twee — from dresses featuring pictures of quaint cottages and garden gnomes, to little boy’s bibs bursting with London beefeaters, Queen’s Guards and British bobbies.
Kidston’s signature polka dot and floral designs, which adorn many a proud British expat housewife’s handbag, are present in abundance here too.
Household knick-knacks for sale include floral teapots, and aprons sprinkled with miniature Buckingham Palaces that one would imagine Queen Elizabeth herself might take a fancy to.
Stay too long in one of these stores, and if you’re British, you might just start feeling homesick — or perhaps just sick. As Kidston herself once said of her brand: “People either love it and want a little bit of it very much, or want to stab us.”
artslife@thenational.ae
