The All Saints branch, recently opened on East Street, offers ridiculously expensive clothes for cool people. Why there needs to be a second branch here, when there is another barely 10 minutes walk away is beyond me, but I suppose the cool kids need another place to buy their trendy clothes from all the time. If it's your sort of thing, All Saints will already be a staple part of your wardrobe, but if you're like me and think it's all a load of too-cool-for-school tosh, this is no different from any other branch, apart from the very cool design, so give it a miss.
I think All Saints is the divining line for Brightonians. The cool kids swear by its anachro-consumerist mixture of sub-Goth anger and religious iconography, while others think it just looks silly. Still, to each their own, and if you like the sound of the above, this may be the store for you. Just make sure to bring a lot of cash: All Saints is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. One could even say it was overpriced, although I'm reliably informed that you can't put a price on 'coolness'.
Apart from the clothes, this particular All Saints also has an interesting design. The shop windows are completely blocked out with old Singer sewing machines, and the inside is clearly decked out to look like a seamstress's workshop, if the seamstress was really hip and listened to Dizzee Rascal. I don't know quite what to make of it: is it one sewing machine for each sweatshop where these clothes are made? Or am I reading too much into it?
If you like this style of clothes, you're probably already shopping at All Saints, and wearing one of their pseudo-religious shirts right now. If that appeals to your rebellious nature, give it a try, just be prepared to pay a lot for that oh-so-precious image. Don't say I didn't warn you! read more