Fashion week bargains and immigration fears at Petticoat Lane Market
Petticoat Lane Market, an East London source for bargain-buy clothing since the early 1600s, is a relic in transition. The atmosphere here has adapted through the years as influences from waves of immigration made its mark on the market.
Above left: Petticoat Lane Market as seen on Feb. 13, 2017 (Ashley Winchester); above right, the market in the 1920s (Wikimedia Commons). Below, inset: a shopper browses men's clothing at the market (Ashley Winchester).
Although it wasn’t regulated or recognized officially until the mid-1930s, buying and selling of textiles occurred in this area for centuries earlier. The Huguenots, in the 17th century, brought their weaving to the area, and a wave of Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s entered the area’s garment industry, adding the tradition of Sunday markets instead of Saturdays. Even the lane’s name has changed over the years (Hogs Lane in the Tudor period; Peticote Lane from the early 1600s; Middlesex Lane in the mid-1800s) reflecting its wares and shifts in prevailing attitudes throughout history.
Today, the Sunday market, its most sprawling (though the area supports vendors six days a week), remains a lesson in the cultural blend that is London. Here, Indian street food meets Arabic dialects and African textiles as buyers rummage through piles of clothing in search of store brand (or the illusion of store brand) deals from labels like Marks & Spencer, Asos and Zara.
But some proprietors see change on the horizon of this 400-year-old fashion row.
“It’s all different now,” says Adam Taylor, a Londoner who’s hawked shoes at the market for the past decade. “Within the last three years, we’ve sold maybe 20 per cent of what we used to.” He cites the economy and discount stores like Primark for eating into his bottom line, and questions whether Petticoat Lane Market will be sustainable for sellers in the future, particularly as, he says, the government reduces entitlements for immigrants and low-income families who frequent his stall.
“Immigrants don’t have all the money now. The government used to give them money, and they’d spend it here,” Taylor says. “Tourists come, but they don’t buy here. Maybe souvenirs, but they just look.”
Shopper Kim Mukendi thinks otherwise. She frequents the Lane whenever she needs textiles to produce her own clothing, or wants a deal on formal wear to footwear. “It’s cheaper, designer brands from big shops for £2 to £5. There’s something for everybody for cheap,” she says, especially on sunny summer Sundays, when the market is in full force.
The market’s significance in history wasn’t lost on her as she clutched a recent purchase for her daughter. “Sometimes you need to leave things the way they are,” Mukendi said.
