Review: Street Casuals -

With a brand new shop opening up in Cardiff, we couldnÔÇÖt resist finding out what it was all about. We sent Freddie Rochez to the opening night full of fashion, music and drinks to tell us more.

This month saw the opening of Street Casuals, located in the Morgan Quarter in the city centre. Starting off as an internet-only retailer, this is their first physical, bricks-and-mortar store. For a small shop, the launch party was surprisingly grand. With a couple of live, local DJs laid on by Cardiff-based promotion company FAO, and free cans of beer for all, the night was an undoubted success. The crowd, as expected, were mostly students and young adults, although there were a few more mature faces here and there. Music, beer and the excitement of a new retailer coming to the city gave the event an easy, party-like atmosphere, as the groups of students and young professional-typeshad a drink, while admiring the wares on offer.

The shop itself is small, although the all-white walls make the space feel larger than it actually is. The decoration is complete with deconstructed wooden shelves and, inexplicably, a boarÔÇÖs head on one wall. Positioned roughly between Urban Outfitters and Route One, the store provides an intermediary of sorts between the two, selling clothes that wouldnÔÇÖt look out of place in either store for prices that fall between them. Although some of the items carry a heftier price tag than most students would go for initially, all of the pieces have a sense of style and durability that makes them worth the extra splurge of cash; Street CasualsÔÇÖ 10% student discount will go some way to softening the blow to your overdraft.

Street Casuals manages to feel simultaneously welcoming, intimate, and exclusive. The hassle-free, fun atmosphere is mirrored in the clothes that they sell. The store carries brands including Oasis, Clae, Carhartt and Made by Martial Artist. In addition to clothes, they also stock a range of Urban Ears headphones and 70s-inspired skateboards. With such an eclectic mix of brands, it feels like an almost impossible task not to find something to purchase!

When it comes to the clothes themselves, the clue is in the name. Across the store, the emphasis is on warmth, style and comfort, ideal as winter takes a tighter hold on the city. Street Casuals is an ideal place for wool hat enthusiasts, as well as those looking for something a little bit different. The store clearly targets students, offering a pleasing mix of both well-known and smaller brands, ideal if you like your clothes a little quirky and want to stand out from the crowd rather than wearing the same high street-branded shirts as all your mates. Will Clinkard, the owner, pulled out a number of favourite items, including a T-shirt by African Apparel and a Dunderdon menÔÇÖs coat that would be ideal for winter

ThereÔÇÖs no need for female students to be put off, either. Although most of the clothes initially appear to be menswear, most of the t-shirts are unisex, and one of the items highlighted by Will was a down-filled Penfield womenÔÇÖs jacket.

FAO, who ran the night, are putting on a series of undergrad music nights later on in the year. If the event at Street Casuals is anything to go by, they are events that are well worth looking into.