About Us

When

Opened in December 2004 the boutique was previously renowned as retailer of the largest brassieres in London. Or at least it seemed to be. The Previous owner had been trading from the premises for over 40 years and little had changed in that time. It was a treasure, all be it a pretty dirty one, of previous times in retail. The space took a couple of months to coax back into life due to the previous owner having let it slip a little – fallen ceilings and all. It felt right to respect the history of the space and as a result the main desk and display cabinet have now been in the space for close to 50 years.

The original gold leaf sign above the shop was uncovered by accident when a painter leant his ladder against the sign when repainting it and the existing paint flaked off to reveal some gold signage underneath. An hour or so later and it was a transformation King Midas would have been proud of. After over 50 years under paint the signage was again visible. It reads ‘berwick’ which has and will no doubt continue to confuse those looking for ‘labour of love’.

 Why

labour of love was conceived as a store that would be that little bit different from the rest. Driven by both an ambition to retail the more unusual and creative designers and  as a reaction to the takeover of homogenous high street stores and boutiques stocking the same collections it has managed to carve out its own little space.

Catering to the niche rather than the masses it is always going to divide opinion. Many people ‘just don’t get it’ but fortunately for many it’s a ‘favourite shop in London’. It’s small and devoid of any sort of ‘conceptual retail environment’ but was still voted best new shop in London by Time Out the year after it opened. The idea is simple; we sell nice stuff. Not a champion of the big boys nor the one man bands, if it’s good enough space is made. From shoes to clothing, jewellery to taxidermy, music to prints, bags to books – you get the idea.

Taste is, obviously, subjective so have a look around the site and see if it floats your boat. Maybe it just gets it as far as the jetty so perhaps you should pay us a visit and make up your mind? Or if you are further afield then may we suggest the on-line shop? It covers only part of what’s in the store but we’re sure there will be something you love. And that, in essence, is the idea. Objects you can fall in love with without needing an advertising campaign to tell you so.