From Townhouse to Pelikamo: the darlings of Tyler

I can’t remember how did I first come across Pelikamo. Was it by simply wandering past during one of my exploratory walks in the new hometown. Or maybe I read about it in Monocle.  Anyway, I was more than impressed with the discovery and happy to establish the fact that Zürich is not in any way inferior to London when it comes to creating a sophisticated shopping experience.

Pelikamo was established in 2011 by Christian Hunziker, Sebastiaan Vadasz, Urs Wietlisbach and Mia Zeltner – involving the same people who just couple of years earlier launched Townhouse, Monocle’s favourite concept store and partner for limited edition(Monocle x Townhouse) boxer shorts. Tyler Brûlé is clearly a fan and after all, this is the man with an eye for the best in the global context.

People behind Pelikamo

We tried to schedule a meeting with Sebastiaan for weeks. When it finally happened it was very much worth the wait. Located just off Bahnhofstrasse – the Bond Street of Zürich-, Pelikamo took over the former branch of UBS. Considering how difficult it is to find good (retail) properties in this city, they were rather schocked when the estate agent called to congratulate them for their success. As the aim of Pelikamo is to provide classic business and casual clothing for the male urban professional, they couldn’t have found a better location – in the middle of the financial and business district surrounded by office buildings – making it easy to nip in for a luncthime purchase.

About 80% of the merchandise bears their own label. ‘No unnecessary frills, no short-term fashion trends and no mass production’, the collection is designed in-house and produced by highly specialized manufacturers mainly in Italy and Portugal, using materials from the likes of Loro Piana, Ariston and Thomas Mason. Christian Hunziker, who is also the in-house tailor, provides bespoke service and adapts the collection according to the needs of the wearer (“..even for the monkey-arms like mine,” says Sebastiaan). Well, as correct fit is really the foundation of any outfit, the discerning clientele definitely appreciates it.

The corduroy trousers and V-neck sweaters are a feast for the eyes. ‘I guess we went slightly over the top with colours last season’, laughed Sebastiaan: “However, the older gentlemen often go for the boldest ones on offer.” Reminds me of Picasso. When he had enough wealth and fame, he just hung out in his swimming trunks: there’s no need to impress anyone any longer, he stated. You can wear the bright red trousers every day, if the fancy takes you, and this is actually something that impresses people the most.

One of the newest additions is Pelikamo wooden box with specially selected shoe care products and brushes. I was immediately thinking of my ex-boyfriend, for whom polishing shoes and waxing the Barbour jacket were among favourite pastimes. Actually, I might send the set to him as a Secret Santa.

The rest is a mix of other brands such as Mismo and Travelteq, Lavenham, Orlebar Brown, Aesop, Tellason, The White Briefs and Samuel Gassmann. And (not suprisingly), Pelikamo is also housing the first Monocle shop-in-shop in Switzerland.

Pelikamo x Monocle

I very much enjoyed the relaxing energy in the store, achieved by the industrial and raw feel of grey concrete and open pipework and furnished with simple and sophisticated mid-century furniture classics collected from all over the country. Sebastiaan said, that men often come and hang out for couple of hours: drink espresso, flip through the magazines and have a good chat. At weekends, there might be the whole family involved. For me, this is the best sign of a good retail experience.

And, as a man needs more than just clothes, they also found a small distillery in the central Switzerland to produce Pelikamo’s own whisky, made from pure German barley and Swiss water, aged for 8 years in oak barrels previously used for red wine.  As I didn’t feel like getting into a Mad Men moment just yet, off I went for a cup of hot chocolate in Sprüngli, the other darling of 8001 postcode.

http://www.pelikamo.com

Pelikanstrasse 11, 8001 Zürich