We spoke to the owners of Leeds’ latest fashion heaven

Maybe you are a fresher in desperate need of a vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket, because you didn't realise how edgy Leeds really was from that one open day. Or maybe you are an experienced third year who can't get enough of rare Polo Ralph Lauren sweaters. Whatever the reason, Hyde Park Vintage has your back.

Why wait to spend the remainder of your loan on vintage clothes? You know you want to, and it's really just what being a Leeds student is all about.

The Leeds Tab spoke to the owners of Hyde Park Vintage, Dan and Josh, to find out everything there is to know about their new venture:

Where did the idea to open a new vintage shop come from?

Like most of our good ideas it came when drunk. I run an event called The Garmhaus and Josh was one of the sellers there last year. We’d both been selling separately on Depop/ASOS Marketplace for a few years, but came together to organise a few small events at Pump n Grind coffee shop in Hyde Park. After one event we spent the money we’d earned in the pub and dreamt of running an actual store and now here we are.

What makes Hyde Park the perfect location?

Hyde Park is a hub for the young and creative. Hyde Park Book Club (our next door neighbours) specifically is a great venue to be next to with something interesting going on every night. We’ve both been living in Hyde Park for over two years and we know the people here seem to appreciate small, ethical businesses, but above all else they just want to dress well, which suits us.

What makes the vintage fashion scene so special in Leeds?

It’s edgy Leeds for a reason. There’s something innate in music and fashion that mean they can’t be disconnected from one another. It’s a chicken and egg scenario and Leeds has built a reputation for both its nightlife and fashion scene. Vintage fashion allows people to be unique in their style and a majority of the 75,000+ students in Leeds share this desire. You can spend £300 on purple Bape camo trousers or a Supreme box logo hoodie, but we’ve all seen it before … (and it’s still not nice).

What has been your favourite piece to pass through your doors so far?

That’s the toughest question and our opinion changes daily, but we’d go with a purple Guess Jeans turtle-neck from the 80s. It’s a brave piece to say the least, but we’ve seen people wear stranger things by the Parkinson steps. It can be hard to keep our hands off our own stock sometimes, but it’s nice we can borrow pieces from the store, it’s kind of like having 1,000 designer clothes in your wardrobe at any one time.

What is the best thing about student style?

Student style is unique because we can get creative with it. There’s no school uniform and there are no work responsibilities, which gives us a window to wear whatever we want everyday, with ultimate freedom. People can reinvent themselves through their style, Tarquin: the Jack Wills-wearing Eaton student can become Kyle – who wears nothing but paint-stained Umbro jumpers.

Is there anything else which you want to add about Hyde Park Vintage?

We want people to look at our store a little differently to how they may see other vintage stores. We hand-select our clothing from around the world and customers have noticed our store contents is filtered to just have the desirable bits. There’s nothing wrong with rails and rails of Levi Jeans/Hawaiian shirts, but we want to give people something a little different.

A customer described us as "a better, cheaper Depop, but in real life", and that’s exactly what we aim to be, offering nothing but nice branded clothes on peoples doorsteps without a hefty price tag. We love what we do and people seem to buy into our ethos, so if anyone who finds themselves nearby, pop in and have a beer with us.

An ever changing vintage wardrobe and beer in the heart of Hyde Park… now you can only wish you knew about Hyde Park Vintage sooner.