Five years ago, when Andrew Sharkey set up Hobo with business partner John Fox, everybody thought they were crazed. "We were selling these big, baggy pants and combats and everybody thought we were mad," he grins. "Now the likes of Dunnes Stores are doing them and to be honest, streetwear just doesn't excite me any more." Andrew has pulled back from Hobo, the cool streetwear chain that now has branches in Dublin, Kilkenny, Limerick and Galway and a shop called Store in Cork, as well as a wholesale business and Internet site. Together with a new business partner, Hilary Ross-Murphy, Sharkey has a new project by the name of Cuba.
Cuba opened in late November and though the look of both the shop and the stock is delightfully eclectic, the store is not yet as Andrew wants it. The unit it occupies, on Trinity Street, near Dublin's Grafton Street, had lain empty for months, so when Sharkey decided to catch the Christmas rush it meant ripping the place apart, ceilings and all, fitting it out and stocking it within the space of a few weeks. For some of his chosen list of designers, this was too little notice, so many of Andrew's chosen darlings will only be arriving in February.
Still, the stock already there gives a good idea of where Sharkey and Ross-Murphy are aiming. Loose, drawstring soft cotton pants can be teamed with either a bright-pink camisole for a casual look or with a fitted, Maostyle navy shirt for those whose office look is smart but funky. In the menswear section, there are great tunic tops in grey and black and smart, well-cut shirts in dark, jewel colours, all with interesting details such as attached mittens or pouch pockets.
Sharkey is very clear about the look - and the market - he's trying to achieve with Cuba. "I'm 30 and I've grown up with streetwear but I want something different now and it's just not there. There's a lot of people around who have money to spend but aren't conformist in what they wear. I think there's an old perception of what someone with a lot of money would wear - a very good long coat, good quality, shiny shoes and the rest - but it just doesn't excite me.
"What I want to do is what I think BT2 could have done. Just because you're young doesn't mean you want to wear Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. I think it's a mistake to presume that if you spend £100 on a pair of trousers, you'll want something with a label all over it. We're aiming at people that want something a bit different, will try on our stuff and know it feels and looks good."
He picks up a loose, mandarin-collared, shirt-style jacket to illustrate his point. It's by an African-London designer, Wale Adeyemi, and the fact Adeyemi designs mainly for the Japanese market is evident. The jacket is great on its own or could be teamed up with the matching trousers to form a loose, unstructured but well-cut suit. For women, Adeyemi's most popular pieces are a threepiece ensemble that consists of a tunic, skirt and apron dress in light grey fabric - you can layer the pieces or go for just one, with perhaps a black polo-neck sweater.
There are a lot of interesting labels here and more on the way. Sharkey will be bringing groovy British designer Copperwheat Blundell to Ireland for the first time this spring while Hilary Ross-Murphy spotted a label called Miguelina while in the US, and Cuba now stocks this fun range of candy-coloured tops and dresses replete with crochet lace. One popular collection goes by the name of Label and is the first collection of E. Sinn Soong, who was previously head designer with noted London tailor Oswald Boateng. When Sharkey contacted her, Sinn Soong's range had sold, but she agreed to make up a capsule collection of 12 pieces especially for Cuba.
Optix, which is the work of young Irish designer Orla Langdon, has also been flying out of the shop - so much so that Orla, who makes each piece herself, can hardly keep up with demand.
"I get really excited about work like Orla's," Sharkey says. "There's a real difference between working with someone like her and what we did in Hobo where everything was designed under our label. Here I can stock designers who I really look up to and admire and feel I'm in some way showcasing their work. It works for us too, in that having these designers gives an edge to the shop and we're able to develop brands for the future."
The future is something for which Sharkey and Ross-Murphy have more than enough plans. There are another two rooms and a basement at their disposal should they wish to expand, while Sharkey is also looking into the idea of having a tailor in residence who could make up suits.
"For good or bad, I want to have fun with this new venture."
