Chic and boutique in Bellenden

Interview by Cara Cummings

Jo Johnson opened Form SE15 at 186 Bellenden Road last May, after a stint managing former lifestyle store Bias. Her boutique stocks clothing, gifts, cards and accessories from brands including Folk, L.F. Mackey and Studio Adorn.

My background is in fashion. I’ve made clothes since I was tiny. My mum was a seamstress, so I was making clothes from a really young age.

I come from Norfolk originally and moved to London when I started art college. I’ve lived all over the city and in Peckham for eighteen years. I instantly felt at home here; Peckham is the first place I’ve felt like that.

My shop has a lot of print and colour and I think that’s reflective of the area. I’m always looking at what people are wearing around here - it’s such a diverse mix of ages, races and cultures.

A lot of people were saying, ‘Where am I going to get a really good card, or something unusual to wear?’ when Bias shut. Because I’ve managed a store and done fashion buying in the past, I thought I had what it would take to make a shop work. I started asking brands, ‘Would you let me stock you if I open a store?’ You buy clothing a year in advance, so it was a big gamble!

Having been on the other side of fashion and knowing what goes into making clothes, traceability and sustainability are huge points for me. When the supply chain is dirty, you often have children being paid pennies to make clothes in unsafe conditions. I knew I wanted to only stock pieces if people can know where they’ve from, who made it and what the factories are like. Ethical fashion isn’t a hippy idea; it’s an essential. If you’re not doing it, you’re contributing to the issue. We can all make choices to not be part of that.

Being an independent means I can do that. Bellenden Road is all independents - we can offer a really personal service and know the vast majority of our customers. I might not know everyone’s name, but I know their dress size. It’s an extra touch that you don’t get from bigger stores.

Sometimes we have people coming in who’ve had a bad day, or feel down and just want a break. You create a nice atmosphere and people leave happier than when they arrived.

That’s the best thing about running this place: the people.