Modfather Camden: The Vintage Shop I Had to Visit in London

Hello everyone!

I really had to tell you about Modfather because, for once, this was not somewhere I discovered by chance in London. I had been following the shop on Instagram for a while and had already told Greg: when we go to Camden, I want to visit.

And honestly, I was right to insist.

Modfather has everything I love in a vintage shop: clothes with character, very British references, music, photographs and rails you genuinely want to look through piece by piece. What it does not have is an enormous heap of clothes that takes forty-five minutes to search, only to find one sleeve and the smell of a cellar that has been shut for ten years. I love vintage, but I also like being able to see what I am looking at. Here, everything is beautifully arranged, considered and full of identity.

The Shop I Had Saved Before I Even Left

I found Modfather through Instagram and followed the account long before this trip to London. Between the mod culture, Liam Gallagher references, jackets, polo shirts and the whole unmistakably British world, I was already sold before I had even stepped inside.

Camden has an enormous amount to see and, if we are being honest, quite a lot to avoid as well. Whenever I love a place online before visiting, I worry about that familiar feeling of it having looked better on Instagram. Not here.

The shopfront is instantly recognisable, with the Modfather logo styled like a British roundel. Inside, the Instagram world comes to life: Union Jacks, jackets, accessories, photographs, Fred Perry, music references and, of course, our favourite Liam watching over the rail of parkas.

Exactly what we came for.

A Vintage Shop Without the Chaos

I love vintage shops, but I do not always have the patience for the ones where everything is piled up, you have to push fifteen hangers aside to see one jacket and, twenty minutes later, you have forgotten what you were looking for.

Modfather is the complete opposite. There is plenty to look at, but the shop still feels beautifully put together. You notice the framed photographs, military pieces, scarves, polo shirts and jackets. The space tells you something before you have bought a single thing.

And naturally, because I work as a web designer and am building Minuit d’Orsay, I notice details like these. You can immediately tell when a shop knows exactly who it is. At Modfather, nobody needs to explain the concept for ten minutes: you walk in and understand it.

And then there's this Starter Texas jacket

Obviously, I did not leave empty-handed.

Greg found me an electric-blue, red and white Starter Texas jacket with huge TEXAS lettering across the front. It was exactly the kind of piece I could look at for two seconds and know I needed to try on.

I adopted it very quickly.

I love everything about it: the colour, the shape, the slightly retro American sportswear feel, the oversized lettering and the red lining. It looks nothing like a jacket I would have bought in a conventional shop, which is precisely why I love it.

I've put a photo of it being worn because, on a hanger, it's already really cool, but once worn with jeans, a beanie and Converse, it's really not the same!

Liam Gallagher Is Never Far Away

There were, naturally, several Liam Gallagher references around the shop, so my judgement was never going to be entirely objective.

If you have read my article about the Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger documentary, you already know that I am not neutral on the subject. Parkas, glasses, jackets, mod references… all this universe has been part of what I've visually loved for years.

That is also one of the reasons I love London so much. Music is never far removed from its clothes, shops or neighbourhoods. You can move from a record shop to a vintage store, spot a photograph of Liam above a clothing rail and end up in a pub two streets away. To me, that is a perfectly normal day.

Camden, My Way

I am not going to turn this into a complete Camden guide because that is not really the point. But Modfather absolutely belongs in my personal guide to London, alongside the record shops in Soho, Ozone, the pubs and all the places I already want to revisit.

Places like these give a trip its personality. I would far rather come home with this jacket and remember the shop, Camden and that day with Greg than buy something simply because the word London is printed across it.

Would I Go Back?

Yes. In fact, it is exactly the sort of shop I would revisit without having anything particular in mind.

The stock changes, I love the atmosphere and I know perfectly well that I could walk in just to look and leave twenty minutes later with another jacket. I know myself.

If you love vintage fashion, mod culture, Oasis or simply shops with a personality of their own, save this address for your next visit to Camden.

And if this article is how you have discovered my London posts, continue with my favourite places in London, followed by my article about Oasis. You will understand the common thread rather quickly.