Blondey McCoy, the 28-year-old skateboarder-turned-designer, sat down with Vogue this week to discuss the opening of Thames MMXX’s first permanent store on London’s Brewer Street and the new collaboration that accompanied it. The interview traces McCoy’s trajectory from teenage prodigy — he turned professional at 15 and showed his first art at 17 — to the founder of one of London’s most distinctive streetwear brands.
The new collaboration, which McCoy confirmed during the interview without naming the partner, marks the brand’s first foray into footwear. Industry sources speculate a partnership with a major sportswear label, though McCoy remained characteristically tight-lipped about details beyond a ‘late summer’ release window.
Thames MMXX has grown from a T-shirt brand born from McCoy’s skate community into a full men’s and women’s label carried by Dover Street Market and SSENSE. The store opening, coming during London’s menswear season, positions the brand for its next stage: a permanent retail presence in the city that shaped its aesthetic.
The Brewer Street shop functions as a gallery, retail space, and community hub rolled into one. McCoy designed the interior himself, leaving raw concrete walls exposed and installing a central sculpture that doubles as a display fixture. ‘I wanted it to feel like a permanent exhibition that happens to sell T-shirts,’ he told Vogue.
