Hanging Out At Corner Store CPT With Luke Doman
Located in Woodstock, Corner Store CPT is the factory of and flagship retailer for local fashion brands Twobop, Sol-Sol Menswear, Young and Lazy and more. It’s more than just a shop though. The space and the people who own / run it have become synonymous with streetwear culture in South African, turning the store into a common hangout for street style geeks.
We asked retail and marketing manager / designer / streetwear god Luke Doman to give us a first-hand account of what goes down at the corner of Sir Lowry Road and Levin Street.
Here’s his photo diary:
THE STORE
We get our power form the big blue C – no lies. It’s the secret to our success. Every morning we all gather in a semi-circle around the C, holding hands. Together we plunge into a deep meditative state as we chant the secret chant in unison. After 7 minutes each one of us place our big toe into the direct light cast by the C. Touching it directly would cause a power overload, so contact with the light is enough. As we place our toes into the light we thank the C and the dark overlord whose blue light emanates from within the C for blessing us and our children.
Mihlali’s daily ritual.
My main mans Anees. One of my best friends and one of the most influential people in my life and the dude with the best vision around. Working for, with and around this homie is – his work gives me life and is one of the main reasons I believe in the culture.
This dude Mat spends all his time at the store now, so I can’t catch on as much kak as I used to (probably a good thing). But he is the most knowledgeable mans in the whole game and, with the risk of sounding cliche, I’ve learnt a fuckload since he’s decided to hang with me at the store every day!
Honestly 95% of work is staring at this thing, pushing buttons and clicking. Hashtag blessed to have resources like this at my disposal!
These ladies are definitely one of the most important components of the operation. Soraya, Tracy and Katherine have been a team for a while now, and if you’ve ever bought anything from the store you’ll know their work well. Their advanced skills play such an important role in our quest for superior quality!
The big man Ant toe knee at his desk.
2BOP mense + one of Andre’s many foreign friends.
Taariq at Chocolate Sauce, our upstairs neighbour and a design agency / online media platform. Taariq is one of the dudes and is kind and patient and always keen to lend me his technical expertise as well as his iPhone charger.
Annie, the newest addition to the Chocolate Sauce team.
Shukrie Joel is the OG of OGs and has his studio upstairs at the store. He is a designer of exceptional skill and has a brand called i and i, which is currently available at Spaghetti Mafia in the CT CBD. Aside from being literally the funniest and most upbeat guy in the world, as well as being impeccably well dressed, I hear from reputable sources that he is actually literally the best maker of clothing in the actual literal game, literally.
Our lovely upstairs neighbours Maylee, a women’s wear brand created by Mathew and Mel Kieser. It’s a lot of dudes here in the building so the more feminine energies the better!
The night Anees arrived back from Mecca. Family time.
Anees back in his office.
Ra the bored at one of his desks. We’ve tried to kick him out but squatters rights, you feel me.
Friends and skating are two of the most important things to me. I met most of my friends through skating, including Anees, who is the main reason I actually work here. This photo was taken at Salesians, the place we met and the place we still hang at today. These are my breddahs Manie and Niyaaz. We’re a little older now, and we have more shit to do, so finding time to skate together is a lot harder than it was even a year ago. For this reason time spent at Salesians, our home ground, is fucking sacred. It’s church you feel me, so I had to include it.
Me an my breddah Young Manie, easily the sexiest, most stylish skater in the country. It has actually been a minute since we been skating together. Like I said, Church.
SUMMER ’17 OFFICIAL LAUNCH PARTY
For me the store and everything about it, is defined by the friends who surround us.
My man Mihlali AKA Kid Concept AKA Corner Store. He has been a blessing, always putting work before anything else and a pleasure to be around. Definitely makes up for my moodiness with his big personality and constant enthusiasm.
A bunch of regulars cooling outside. It’s the people who believe that really make the brand.
Last minute prep. We literally do everything at the last minute, so this kind of scene is not rare at all! Special mention to my favourite girl Sarah. Without her I’d most probably be dead, or at the very least I’d have done close to nothing at all, but probably I’d be dead. Constant support, advice and actual physical help at every single step of the way in every single thing I do. A fucking diamond in an ocean of coal.
Prep is done. The last few moments before we open up!
Anees Petersen of Young and Lazy and Xzavier Zulu of The Sartists catching up before the event. Two good friends and two dudes who are close to being the best at what they do.
Xzavier on the decks! We’re lucky to be surrounded by friends who lend us their various talents, helping our vision come to light.
The OG Anthony Smith of Twobop. I feel like people underestimate 2Bop’s contribution to everything. When I was small I thought like fuck what’s the point in doing anything cool all the way down here at the tip of Africa? Nobody is gonna care. Then I was introduced to Twobop, and everything changed. I realised that doing something of substance that appeals to your own tastes and interests was not only doable, but that there was a legitimate audience for local streetwear that wasn’t generic. Honestly I believe that without Uncle Brad and Uncle Anthony, there would be fockal here for anybody!
When the fuck did I get so chubby???!!!
There are so many kids that surround us and are willing to help out just to spend some time with the dudes, which is really amazing. It’s hard sometimes when you’re busy to really support so many aspiring designers, stylists, photographers and models but we do try to make experiences as fulfilling as possible and to point homies in the right direction, whether it be lending homies clothing for shoots or advising them on the next steps in their respective journeys, we try. These type of homies are the homies whose belief makes the whole thing what it is and seeing some of our babies starting to do the things they want to do is mad fulfilling.
Another homie since since, Ra ees AKA Ra the Bored can be found on our bench doing laptop things on any given day. From doing what we could to doing what we want, it’s cool to go through different stages with the same people! This guy has been doing shit since we were pretty small and has played a big role in making me believe that doing stuff is possible. Also he started wearing shorts this year, so big ups for that.
Word to Jameson word to K.DOLLAHZ.
More mans. Lucky to be surrounded by people who do cool things!
Uncles.
Kalo is one of my best friends ever. We spent literally everyday smoking up together at UCT and now she’s a world famous DJ superstar but she stayed friends with me so I’m grateful for that. Jokes, on a serious note though I’m proud to call Kalo my friend, we’ve been homies since since, starting with the Southern Suburbs days, to Smith and Abrahams to doing the Corner Store thing together in the beginning. I’m so happy that she’s able to do her thing to such a ridiculous response.
More:
Visit Corner Store CPT at 103 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock.
Visit cornerstorecapetown.myshopify.com to shop.
Follow @exoticserpentslippers / @cornerstorecpt on Instagram.
