Workroom, Branding Agency | Petticoat Lane Brand Creation

London’s iconic market needed life support

Iconic in London’s swinging 60’s for affordable street fashion, Petticoat Lane Market had sadly lost its mojo by the late 1990’s. Waning footfall and disgruntled stall-holders prompted City of London Corporation and London Borough of Tower Hamlets to kick start a major redevelopment plan in 2019.

Multi-cultural heritage

Originally an ancient drovers trail outside the City of London, by the mid 1650’s the Lane started to become a commercial district where second-hand clothes and bric-a-brac were sold and exchanged. Over the next few hundred years many waves of immigrants, from Huguenots and master weavers to Jewish garment makers and more recently Indian and East Asian families have added layers of culture, products and personality.

We carried out onsite visitor research and held lively workshops with locals, stallholders and businesses to fully understand recent history and to capture what was needed to authentically position Petticoat Lane Market for the future.

"The Workroom delivered a vision and brand crucial to our street market regeneration, providing a clear identity and uniting stakeholders. They are easily one of the best companies I’ve contracted—responsive, professional, and deeply dedicated to the project."

Helen Kearney, Project Manager, City of London Corporation

Ancient and modern

Our challenge was to create a new brand to help rebuild the profile of the market but one that did not fall into the trap of many of the newly ‘gentrified’ markets that had out-priced and excluded both locals and traditional traders. This branding needed to be sensitive to its heritage but still feel like contemporary London. We positioned Petticoat Lane as ‘Your proper East End Market’ – an open, welcoming, bold and vibrant feast of colour.

“The Workroom’s engagement strategy ensured all stakeholders, including hard-to-reach groups, felt a sense of ownership of the emerging brand.”

Tom Noble, Group Manager, Public Realm, City of London Corporation

Fabric of market is woven into identity

We used the patterns, textures and fabrics inspired by the market stalls and surrounding shops to build a bespoke identity — from the font up. What better way to celebrate the rich heritage of street fashion and fabrics than to use the very materials that made Petticoat Lane famous? We hand-crafted each letter to build an entire alphabet so we could not only design the logo, but also create a distinctive and unique visual language.

“The branding Workroom produced was so spot on and perfect for the market and the area, to the extent that customers to the market were asking where they could buy the branded clothing the stall holders were wearing!”

Robert Breese, Licensing Officer, City of London Corporation

A community endeavour

Our creative strategy always included the local community. So it is exciting (and fitting) that City of London Corporation and London Borough of Tower Hamlets supported workshops to get local people, schools and art colleges involved in hand printing fabrics, making banners and bunting to enhance the market experience, while the redesigning of new facilities and amenities for the market are being developed. Watch this space.

Client

City of London Corporation

Project

Branding to rejuvenate London’s iconic East End Market, Petticoat Lane

Sectors

Disciplines

Branding
External Comms
Font Design
Guidelines
Market Research
Signage
Social Media
Strategy
Visual Identity
Website Design