Lone Design Club: How A Smart Pop-Up Idea Expanded To 100 Locations

Borough Yards—near London Bridge and next door to the capital’s famous destination for foodies Borough Market—is the latest retail location to get a pop-up facelift thanks to Lone Design Club (LDC), founded in 2018.

As the newest addition to London Bridge’s vibrant and expanding culinary and creative neighborhood, Borough Yards, situated under historic railway arches, fuses its Victorian history with modern stores and eateries, a cinema, and bars. Among the big draws at the 140,000-square-foot regeneration project are Akara, Alain Ducasse, Barrafina, Everyman Cinema, and Vinoteca.

However the space—owned by private equity, real estate player Mark—is not full. The restored and newly renovated Stonecutters Lane, which is a two-minute walk from London Bridge station (the fourth busiest in Britain), is the final stage of the development. Here Mark has tied up a deal with LDC to introduce three pop-ups showcasing a dozen independent labels at any one time throughout April and May, with perhaps 50 making an appearance over a six-week period.

Some new brands had already arrived such as Sknfed (natural vegan skincare), Handmade Stories (ethical and slow fashion), La Lune London (handmade décor and candles), Pop Specs (affordable eyewear), and Linnet Jewelry. However, Lone Design Club’s multi-brand pop-ups might make all the difference in bringing the development alive by filling vacant units.

In one fell swoop, Stonecutters Lane will host a fresh mix of new independent labels focused on sustainability and original design. Among them are ceramic artists, H2 Studios; slow fashion brands Noe Dresses, Locklear Thomas, and Brick + Bone; And Wolf, which makes sustainable heatless hair curlers; United Nations conscious fashion and lifestyle partner, One Less; Angry Pablo, a hybrid cycling brand; and house-plant feed brand Sowvital. Many of them are making their first physical standalone appearances in the U.K. by opening at Borough Yards.

Lily Lin, Mark’s U.K. managing director commented: “Stonecutters Lane provides a vibrant hub for independent artisans. This launch with Lone Design Club marks the start of a busy season for Borough Yards, featuring the World Press Photo Exhibition 2024 opening in May and further summer activities to be announced shortly.”

More vibrant retail

Shoppers also get the benefit of experiencing ethical brands that will probably not have been on their radar before as well as a slew of free events including clean beauty mini-workshops with Malin + Goetz, a panel event to mark Fashion Revolution Week, plus regular ‘sip and shop’ events with music and drinks to loosen the purse strings while shopping.

Rebecca Morter, CEO of LDC, described the project at Stonecutters Lane as “a momentous endeavor” for the business. She added: “By fostering a community where independent artisans can thrive, we are setting a new standard for what shopping can be—an exploration of creativity, craftsmanship, and shared values. It’s a movement towards a more vibrant and inclusive future in retail.”

Price positioning is broad; anywhere from $18 to $2,500, but specific price ranges are set depending on the location. So pop-up items in Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, and Belgravia would generally be more expensive than in East London or even Central London. Borough Yards has been curated within a $25 to $370 band.

LDC’s brands in Stonecutters Lane will change every week to ensure that the location offers something genuinely new for regular visitors. Chief operating officer Alice McAnulty told me: “We are providing a retail service to brands and landlords. We’ll work with landlords to help them understand who the brands of tomorrow are and how they can improve their portfolios to give their customers what they really want.”

A creative front backed by hard data

To get that right, LDC’s success is increasingly reliant on its interrogation of data. “We have leaned a lot into the analytics side. We’re very much about KPIs. It also means that we can take a brand from a pop-up to an anchor space, and then a longer term pop-up. It’s a career journey for them,” explained McAnulty.

In the main, brands apply to LDC and the company has about 10,000 it can call upon from around the world, though it actively works with about 3,000. LDC is running three to five pop-ups a month lasting between two to six weeks. Other concurrent locations are in upscale St John’s Wood in North London; Brighton on the south coast of Britain; and the company’s 100^th milestone location will be in the King’s Road in Chelsea next week.

LDC has also activated spaces in Shanghai and Milan, where it ran six pop-ups pre-Covid, and is now looking at the city again. Meanwhile, the U.S. is on the company’s hit list for next year.