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Rous Iland: The Soho House of style

August 31, 2011 13:50

ByJan Shure, Jan Shure

2 min read

In about a decade, when the High Street - and even Bond Street and Sloane Street - exist merely as showrooms to try on clothing that we will then go home and buy on the internet, the non-virtual fashion businesses which will remain will be the ones like Rous Iland.

A kind of Soho House for fashionistas, it is a private members' boutique created by Clare Rous and Kara Iland, and is based in a grand town house in Dover Street, just a few hundred Louboutin-shod paces from The Wolseley and Le Caprice.

What should guarantee its survival is the genius concept of the enterprise: part smart boutique, part image consultancy, part personal shopping service, and all the clothes are hand-picked to ensure they are different from what the mainstream offers. They are also selected specifically with members in mind, and many are exclusive in the UK, or available in only a tiny number of other shops.

Kara, the Jewish one, is Australian. She grew up in Sydney, where she studied law, working in Brussels and The Hague, before arriving in London eight years ago and finding herself working so flat-out she had no time to find the clothes she wanted for work and for her off-duty life.