Having ventured East of London the other weekend, I had set out to finally go and visit Ryantown (my absolute fave artist’s lil old shop). Rob Ryan’s eclectic mix of anything from cards and prints, to limited edition children’s height charts and kitchen tiles can be found nestled down the rainbow coloured shop fronts in Columbia Road.
With the last few years seeing Rob Ryan become an industry standard when it comes to every fashion lover’s favourite artist (remember THAT cover for Elle, the Stylist etc, or THAT collaboration with Lulu Guinness for the cut-out dress?) his work has become more readily available for the masses. For example, he now counts Selfridges and Urban outfitters among his stockists, as well as selling his prints at the V&A. However, what I love about him is that despite all this success, the Rob Ryan brand still maintains the same attitude it started out with and hasn’t fallen prey to the glitz and glam of the fashion world. That’s to say, everything from the website to his blog, and even the location of the shop has a very lo-fi attitude, which is probably why so many people can associate with it. I mean, the guy still sells on Etsy like a true struggling artist.
And with Columbia road being slightly off the beaten track, its definitely worth going one saturday afternoon and pop into the other boutiques and craft shops and also to check out the awesome tiled mural which spreads along most of the road!
