Images of Hackney Walk illustrate golden-plated, glass-fronted fashion outlets. Brand names of the highest echelon stand proudly under railway arches, boasting the promise of an ultimate retail experience. Descriptions of Hackney Walk depict something else: ‘permanently closed.
’ For a regeneration project costing over £100 million, in a historically deprived area, how did so much money get spilled into a ghost town? In 2011, when the largest London-based civil unrest in years resulted in five dead and dozens homeless , Hackney was later given £2 million in post-riot funding to lead the borough to recovery. £500,000 went on repairing storefronts and improving street conditions on Narrow Way in Hackney Central while the other £1.5m was allocated to build a fashion hub on Morning Lane, aiming to rival Bicester Village in Oxfordshire .
Taking over railway arches that were filled with car garages, they were displaced and moved out. In their place, Hackney Walk was built encompassing new-refurbished units and two multi-storey buildings. READ MORE: London's best place to live in 2024 named as 'area for the wealthy' as every borough ranked What better solution to offer a frustrated generation, whose anger about racially charged violence led to city-wide disruption, than a luxury fashion hub? David Adjaye’s planning for Morning Lane’s retail outlet was approved a year later.
Today the glossy black glazing of Gieves and Hawkes is complemented with fresh graffiti, and decora.
