One of my favourite memes of recent times? When, a couple of years back, women began asking men how often they thought about the Roman Empire . It transpired that more often than not the answer was “quite a lot, actually”. Which is fair enough.
The Romans absolutely smashed it. Look at their roads, for example. They were unbelievable at them.
One of their first in Britain was Ermine Street, known as — are you excited? — Kingsland Road today. It runs from Old Street up to Dalston Junction and I think the Romans, who were gladiatorial drinkers, would’ve loved all the places to inebriate: Seed Library, Three Sheets , A Bar with Shapes for a Name, Bar Lotus. That list, which I’ve truncated, is almost as impressive as how straight the A10 is.
Another is Jaguar Shoes, bearer of the best name of them all and found somewhere near the beginning, both figuratively and geographically. It opened all the way back in 2001, pre-Salomon trainer boom and long before anyone thought about opening restaurants there like Biblioteque or Planque. Or Bar Valette, which is next door .
Jaguar Shoes’ longevity precedes it. Its full name is Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes, a title that derives from a bag and shoe wholesaler in situ during the Eighties. Happily, the original signs remain, a reminder of a Shoreditch before.
What I like about Jaguar Shoes is that it maintains a sense of place. It is neither performative nor expensive, instead a platform for emerging artists and musicians, fashion des.
