Oi Polloi, One of the World’s Best Menswear Stores, Is Back

Oi Polloi

The world is always in need of great retail. If that retail can be real brick-and-mortar locations, that’s ideal, but it doesn’t have to be. Since Covid and all the in-real-life closures that came in its wake, we’ve just been starved for places that feel like one person’s—or one group of people’s—real clothing curation. There are a million guys on Instagram Reels who are only curating bad outfits and worse tattoos. What this world needs—what Instagram needs—is fewer, more knowledgable voices.

Thankfully, we just got one back.

After the closure of its brick-and-mortar in 2023, legendary menswear store Oi Polloi has launched a new website. Co-founder Nigel Lawson has returned to a digital stall, slinging the menswear—most notably parkas and jackets—and camping goods that made the store a staple of menswear in Manchester (and around the world).

Crucial to this endeavor, like I was saying, is the curation. Not just the product—though that’s there with a heavy-hitting selection from Ten C, And Wander, RRL, and more—but the visuals. The website looks all its own, with the bright pops of color you’d expect on a new Fjällräven parka you’d wear while walking out of the old store. In a time when everything is so same-same, Lawson is bringing back something all its own.

That said, I do have to acknowledge that online shopping from a small retailer in the UK isn’t necessarily easier on your wallet. You can find some of this stuff stateside or at bigger retailers for less money. But that’s not really the point. The point is we’ve got a real space—a real voice—that is uniquely its own (and uniquely Manchester’s) back in the world. If you have the means to support that, and don’t mind spending just a little bit more to do so, I’d encourage you to do it.

And if you’re not going to buy, at least read the blog; that’s better for you than any cut-rate shopping you’ll do on Amazon.

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