Summer Festival Fever Hits The Square!

We're celebrating our "independents" with a fantastic summer festival that's set to create a Camden Town vibe. Complementing our already vibrant mix of independent music venues and retailers, we'll have more than 50 stalls, a live unsigned music stage and entertainment every Saturday from 18 August until 8 September.
A real treat for anyone who fancies something a little less ordinary, traders will be selling everything from vintage to vinyl and beads to burlesque, and we've also got street performers and live music to keep you entertained.
Bands taking part on 18 August include alternative West Midlands rock band Captain Horizon, and on Saturday 25 August, you can catch Birmingham four piece Coronation Gypsies and indie band The Mosfets.  Kerrang! Radio DJ Alex Baker will also be there during the festival.
The fun isn’t just limited to music and shopping either - if you fancy putting yourself in the picture, there'll be some great photo opportunities... In keeping with the festival vibe, The Square is laying on mud pits (for that real festival experience), chances to adorn yourself in festival attire (think neon leg warmers) and a campfire get together!
"This is our second summer festival and we're sure that this year it will be just as big a success," says the Square’s Centre Manager Yvonne Moulton.
"We are in the heart of Birmingham and there is a great atmosphere here with some fabulous unique shops and great entertainment - we're committed to the local community and to independent traders. The summer festival is a great way to show off what we can offer and to celebrate the Square’s independents."
A donation from the event will be made to Cash for Kids which provides a helping hand to disabled and disadvantaged children around Birmingham and the West Midlands.

For more information, see our Facebook page or visit us on Twitter or  Pinterest.

Snapbacks Are Back!

Snapbacks are back- back from the days of Back to the Future, SEGA Mega drives and New Kids on the Block. Originally popular in the 1980’s, they fell out of favour but today they are back in style and sales of these caps are at an all-time high.

Snapbacks are the most popular sellers this summer at the world renowned Hatman store in Birmingham. There are rows and rows of them in every colour you can think of. Designs range from the trusty old American city range to Dennis’ own personal designs. For those who don’t know- Dennis is the owner, designer and local personality who owns the chain of Hatman stores.

Dennis first started Hatman in the 1970s. A tailor by trade, he started making hats in his dad’s back room, and then built his business up. He now proudly boasts two shops in Birmingham, including his flagship store in The Square. They also wholesale out to a lot of shops in Birmingham and have quite a few franchises around the West Midlands.

Manager Keshia Hamilton, Dennis’ daughter, tells us that ‘there are about 500 different designs of hats in this urban shop in Corporation Street. Dad and I work hard on sourcing, designing and selling the best products out there. We’ve had visitors travel from all over, from London, Manchester, even Scotland to come to the store! People just love wearing the logo.’ The store has everything from beanie hats to flatcaps and Trilbies.

Keshia also has a range of ladies hats too. ‘It’s not all about the lads you know’ she tells us in a very convincing tone. ‘There’s a range of hats for women too to make sure they get ahead of the crowd, we’ve got brims and feather s for all occasions.’

And it doesn’t stop at hats. Under Keshia’s careful guidance Hatman has gone on to stock a large selection of ladies leggings and also legging suits, in brightly coloured designs and patterns. ‘They’re great to go clubbing in or to wear out every day,’ Keshia tells us. ‘You will also find everything from dresses to jumpsuits and exotic swimming costumes in the store this summer, come in and say hi.’ 

Hatman is a shop like no other. Dennis, Keshia and the team are warm, welcoming and passionate about their business. Their world revolves around offering affordable fashion and great customer service.

This family business adds some fun, vibrancy and passion to our city. This store isn’t another clone shop, is a real and much loved retailer with a personality and a belief in the people of Birmingham.

One last thing… if you don’t know what a snapback is, then you shouldn’t be wearing one! :)

Are You Street?

East or West Coast? NYC or LAX? Do you get it? Any self-respecting street wear follower does. With its roots in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s street wear is a phenomenon born out of the urban massive in the concrete jungles of the USA.

It’s all about the brands you wear, the music you hear, and the ‘sneakers’ you sport.

Back in the day street wear was underground. Street was cutting edge, cool, different and more than a little intimidating. It was a statement about who you were, what you liked and your attitude to life. In the late ‘80s street wear went main stream and became a global phenomenon. Rappers, DJs and groups assumed the look.

Fast forward 20 years, jump the pond and you are in the UK’s fashion capitol. Birmingham is ethnically diverse; it is gritty, urban and real. It’s no great surprise that it has unofficially become the home of street wear in the UK.

Dotted around the city are some of the UK’s most iconic street wear retailers. And Osi in The Square is the perfect example. Street wear is his life and his livelihood. He has been in the business about 25 years.

His store is home to a fusion of American and British street bands. ‘It’s a way of life,’ Osi tells us. ‘The guys and I love pulling together new collections. This season it’s snapback caps and cuffed jeans.’

Osi has been at the centre of style for decades. He has seen so many fashions come and go and reports that the craze now is dad’s kitting their kids out in mini versions of their own street gear. “Some of kids are looking more dapper than their dads, bling sees no age!”. 

Osi’s loyal fan base has been growing over the years and so has the appetite for all things street. Along with the clothing Osi now offers accessories that out bling the best of anything our cousins in the USA have. The most popular selling item (after his denim) is belt buckles that would outside any royal crown. ‘They’re the perfect gift’ Osi tells us with a wry smile!

In our office we’ve formed our own view on anything street. Birmingham has the heritage; it is the world’s original urban jungle. Without cities there would be no street wear, without Birmingham there would be no cities!

Whilst NYC and LAX are famed and much loved, we really think BHX is where it’s at.

The Square is proud to be home to this one of a kind retailer. We’ll be featuring more of our independent stores in forthcoming blogs, so stay tuned and feel free to chip in with your thoughts.

Saturday Fun at Bert and Gert’s, The Square Birmingham

Saturday Fun at Bert and Gert’s

Hattie  & Michele McInerney, Jason Wilkes, Kevin McInernery, Mark Wilkes

Jason Wilkes wants people to have fun, he says. And that’s certainly what they do at Bert and Gert’s market, which is here at The Square on the first Saturday of every month.

Jason has put his heart and soul into organising the urban and vintage market. And the atmosphere is buzzing with around 25 stalls selling everything from hand-made cards to sports jackets.

‘There is a very big community of arts and crafts and vintage in Birmingham and people are looking for the opportunity to sell their wares,’ says Jason who was lived in Birmingham all his life.

One of his stallholders knits handmade bags and lines them with fabrics; another grows her own peppers and makes pepper sauces. There are vintage clothes and jewellery and handmade funky frocks too.

Hattie McInerney

Hattie McInerney is 15 and has a stall at Bert and Gert’s to raise money for a World Challenge expedition to Madagascar next year. Hattie, a pupil at King Edward V1 High School for Girls, has called her stall ‘Hattie’s Emporium’ and is making her own jewellery.

Her mum Michelle helps her out by selling by selling vintage bone china on a separate stall. Michelle, who works as a nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, spends her days off in charity shops or car boot sales looking for stuff to sell.

As for Hattie, she has drawers full of beads and charms and chains at home. ‘It’s doing really well,’ she says.

Jason loves buying from the stalls himself. There’s a battered old suitcase that he is really proud of. His terraced home is full of stuff he has bought at the market or stuff he is making. He has his own stall selling cards, jewellery, framed photographs and more.

 ‘When I’m looking for presents I like to look for something different, something that some thought has gone into,’ he says.

Mark and Jason Wilkes

The name of the market comes from Jason’s family. Bert was his granddad on his dad’s side and Gert was his nan on his mum’s side of the family. It’s a real family business with Jason’s brother Mark now about to join him as business partner.

Jason has been running markets at The Square since last August and he says that people come back month after month. ‘They like what we are doing and they come and find us.’ he says.

A fusion of Culture at Aisse Boutique, The Square Birmingham

A fusion of Culture at Aisse Boutique

There’s nothing square about The Square.  And that’s certainly true at Aisse Boutique which specialises in European style clothing, decorated with African patterns.

It is the place to visit if you are looking for bright and bold designs. You will find everything from miniskirts to strapless dresses. The colours include oranges and reds and pinks and shades that seem to say summer already. Aisse Badiane calls them ‘happy colours’.

Her friend Anaisa Monteiro, who works with her, makes the hats and the colourful jewellery including headbands and necklaces.

Aisse who was born in Senegal in West Africa grew up in Paris and came to England when she was 18. She opened the shop in The Square last year. And she has always loved fashion.

‘I went to two or three parties and whatever I was wearing; someone was wearing the same thing. That’s how it started. I wanted something unique,’ she says.  She designs her clothes and some of them are now being made in Senegal.

Aisse Badiane of Aisse Boutique

She thinks her shoppers love them because the colours catch their eye and also they are unusual. ‘The style suits European people as much as African people,’ says Aisse whose personality is as sunny as her clothes. ‘The pattern pleases everyone.’

Birmingham Ballroom Gig List 1st - 6th May!

A great start to May by the look of things guys n gals! Visit our Facebook Page for all the latest news.

Birmingham Ballroom Gig List

And that wraps up April folks! 

Have a look at Birmingham Ballroom for more info.