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Stockists Profile: Blitz Vintage London

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Billed as a vintage department store and taking up 9,000 square foot of prime London real estate, Blitz is the UK’s largest vintage clothing store.

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We’ve been stocked in Blitz since its debut in the summer of 2011. Our deliveries have included deadstock beanies, t shirts, snapbacks, bucket hats, bags, and of course, our own branded goods.

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Blitz is located off Brick Lane, London’s long-established hub for vintage clothing. But despite heavy competition from Brick Lane institutions like Rockit and Beyond Retro and a seemingly saturated vintage market, Blitz has thrived. The shop offers what most shops in the area don’t: the rare mix of fashion-centric vintage and retro goods alongside  the genuinely old, more collectible pieces. For instance, chain stitched 70s varsity jackets might sit opposite new and pre-worn sweatshirts that have been tie dyed and dip dyed by hand that morning.

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One reason we like supplying Blitz is because we can target female customers more easily.  We find a lot of Blitz shoppers won’t have actively sought out our branded product, but when they come face to face with it on the shelves they often find themselves seduced by the prints and designs, and end up making that impulsive purchase.

Their average customer also chooses to shop there because they want to find more original items, that you can’t find in every high street shop. So we have found great success with our headwear lines, which we strive to make unique.

You can find Blitz Vintage London @

55-59 Hanbury St
London,
E1 5JP
Blitzlondon.co.uk

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The History of the Ralph Lauren Polo Bear

The polo bear is probably Ralph Lauren’s most iconic image.  It has appeared in many guises over the course of the brand’s history, usually on sweatshirts and sweaters, but also on hoodies, caps, bedding and towels.

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The story goes that during the company’s infant years, Ralph Lauren was given a thoughtful birthday present – a plush teddy bear, dressed in a typical Ralph Lauren western outfit.  The clothes on the bear were neatly tailored and made using the same fine materials as his regular branded apparel.

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Lauren, so impressed with the gift, decided that such an original product should be made available to his customers too.  The bear was born, but the actual bear toys were expensive to make, and therefore expensive to sell, so only the real enthusiasts could afford them.  Therefore, Ralph Lauren started making items of clothing with the bear emblazoned on them.

The first sweaters appeared in 1991 and the lines ran until 2001.  2013, however, saw the bear reborn (pictured below).

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As part of Ralph Lauren’s bring it back campaign, the bear sweater was the first item to be reborn into the contemporary Ralph Lauren collections.

If Polo is the biggest in hip-hop, the bear is the biggest line. Different polo bear items have become highly sought after and have been worn by a great deal of hip-hop heads like Drake, Kanye and Just Blaze. The Polo Bear trend can be seen as part of lo-life culture.

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The demand for Polo Bear never ceases, that’s why we’ve come up with some of our own polo bear items: 5 panels, watches and tees.

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