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Game, Set, Matches

By FashionUnited

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Fashion forward shop Matches has always been on the cusp of what is hot right now. All the top designers and looks of the moment are present in the three Matches shops. Not only that, the shops are each customised to the individuals needs of the areas in which they are located, be it Wimbledon, Richmond or Notting Hill.

When founder Tom Chapman decided that the shop needed its own label, his attention turned to the search for the right designer. For this he employed the help of Joy Yaffe, who is responsible for picking rising designers like Sophia Kokosalaki and Veronique Branquinho. Yaffe came up with hot new talents Christopher Crawford and Angela Deane of Christopher Deane. The label had already made a big splash in New York for a couple of seasons. And now they have signed to create a line for Matches for two seasons, with the first items planned for next month. The new line is unofficially known as Freda.

"They are completely in tune with the Matches ethos," Chapman said of the duo."It's a mix-and-match collection that will never make up more than 20 per cent of our total buy," Chapman told vogue.co.uk. "We don't want to detract from the eclecticism that Matches is known for. We don't want to dictate a total look. Our whole point is that we let you create your own style out of the labels we offer - including our own."

The new line will consist of vintage alpaca coats, GBP 450, and great cashmere and delectable limited edition, hand-finished pieces. The new label may even result in satellite stores. When questioned about the name Freda, Chapman said: "Names are always impossible to come up with. This one just happened after plenty of brainstorming. We were the same when we first opened the store - I'm always asking for matches because I neer have a lighter and one day someone just said, 'Why don't we just call it that?' So we did. But the Wimbledon shop was soon surrounded by shops calling themselves Rackets and Volleys, which was a bit horrifying - though over the years the name has come to suit us."

Matches