Maurizio’s Dining, one of Mill Road’s many mouth-watering food spots, is the last place you’d expect to find a stash of vintage street and luxury wear. The Italian restaurant is well-known locally for its pizzas, pastas, and puds, but despite selling meals from one of the most fashionable countries on our continent, you’d be lying if you thought the finest clobber in Cambridge was lurking behind its tables.
Nevertheless, last December, if you managed to surpass the strong wafts of food, Get Weird Garms was pitching up their second pop-up shop of the year, promising an eclectic mix of clothing, drinks, and DJs. The Instagram page started in lockdown, where Dexter and Leo D''apollonio, channeled their spare time into kick-starting a selective retail space with some of Gen-Z’s favourite brands. From Evisu denim to Ed Hardy hoodies, and Bape’s infamous Roadstas to vintage Burberry fleeces, the online shop is providing a space for like-minded enthusiasts to nerd out over garms and engage in a local community.
Throughout the evening, blends of blinding breaks boomed from the open decks, rattling packets of fresh pasta and crates of Peronis off their stacks. It seems the 90s, jungle/rave revival isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Such sonics were completely synonymous with much of the style to be seen on GWG and Leo’s Garms' rails, the latter of whom had Prada pieces that not even your most rigorous Italian fashion fan could identify. He, similarly, had recently started his Depop, which now sits handsomely over 5000 followers.
The event also embraced some up-and-coming brands from the city. Stone Cold Studios, who we interviewed for Repeat Mag Issue 1, had a very limited amount of hoodies, trucker caps, and skelestars to buy, whilst Fantasia was offering free jean graffing with their signature logo. It was nice to find out about a few brands we hadn’t heard, like TygerBC, whose ‘Always Watching’ denim really caught our eye, and Steppaz too.
Presenting a microcosm of Cambridge’s Nigo wannabes, gorpcore lovers and UKG junkies, GWGs' pop-ups accommodate a scene many knew was in the city, but was yet to find a home. Alongside shops like Groovy Garage, which opened over the summer and also provides an astonishing amount of coveted clothing, the online store is driving the little street culture Cambridge offers. Hopefully, the amalgamation of local Depops, brands, and luxury vintage shops is a sign of more to come in the city, which for too long has been starved of anything remotely interesting.
Look out for any future pop ups from Get Weird Garms.
Big ups to Groovy Garage and Collab? for hosting what looked like a great night on Castle Hill after Christmas too. Sadly we couldn’t make it (Covid), but for as long as there are people in Cambridge willing to bite the bullet and do something different, the City’s culture will drive in the right direction.
Words Liam Cattermole