7 BERLIN FAVORITES: Victoria met Albert

"For the woman who has everything,
for the man who needs nothing"

Da var det på tide med ny BERLIN FAVORITES. Denne gangen har jeg vært på en av mine yndlingsbutikker i Berlin: Victoria met Albert. 
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Time for another BERLIN FAVORITES post. This time I was at one of my favorite shops in Berlin: Victoria met Albert.

















Victoria met Albert er en konseptbutikk -inspirert av kjærligheten mellom den engelske dronningen Victoria og hennes tyske mann, Albert -tilbyr et sjarmerende utvalg av mote, smykker, tilbehør og interiør. 
Med andre ord: et drømmested. Her kan jeg tilbringe lange stunder mens jeg rusler igjennom butikken og observerer farger, mønstere, tekstiler, lukter, kremer, såper, gaveartikler og til og med barneutstyr! Jeg er innom butikken flere ganger i uken for å se meg om og sjekke ut nyankomne varer. Dette stedet er avhengighetsskapende.

Victoria met Albert describe themselves as a concept store inspired by the love of the english queen and her german husband, stocks a charming selection of fashion, accessories and homeware.

In other words: -it's the shop of your dreams. I can spend hours here, slowly making my way through the shop, observing and taking in the colors, patterns, textures, smells, luxurious lotions, soaps, checking out the nifty little gift items and baby-equipment! I always end up popping by the shop several times a week, checking out the new arrivals and daydreaming. This place is dangerously addictive

Sist helg shoppet jeg her på salg og skattene som jeg fikk med meg hjem kan dere se her og her.

Victoria met Albert drives av et ungt par: briten William og hans tyske kone Ilka. Sammen har de et barn og driver de to VmA butikker i Berlin: en ved Helmholtzplatz og en ved Boxhagenerplatz.
William var så sporty at han gikk med på et lite intervju:

Last weekend, I shopped here on sale, and got some precious pieces for our home that you can check out here and here. 
The shop is owned and run by couple William(UK) and his german wife Ilka. I got i contact with them and William was such a dear and agreed to do a little interview:

Jona: When did you open for the first time, what inspired you to start the shop and what background do you have, education and work-wise?

Will: We both have degrees in Graphic design I studied in Brighton and Ilka studied in Berlin and we met when I came to Berlin to get a placement. We opened our first store in September 2010 at Helmhotlzplatz and in November 2012 at Boxhagener Platz. My family has thee stores in London  so I have been working in this environment since i was 'a young boy. I had never thought about starting my own store, both Ilka and I were working as graphic / exhibition designers but we needed a new challenge that would take us away from the  desk and computers and we really missed interacting with people. 

For the home

 Your shop has such a great selection of products. -where do you get inspiration for choosing your products from?

I have been managing the mens fashion buying for my families stores in London for the last 12 years so I already had an understanding of most of the brands we have in the store. Ilka and i have had a great time finding women's fashion from some major fashion houses and sourcing small designers who are keen to show their fashion in Berlin for the first time. With gifts we are always looking for new products where ever we are,  our design background really helps with this. We liaise with the store in London exchanging ideas and products, we never really stop working. For instance we got a phone call at 3 in the morning from my mum who was on holiday in Thailand and had found some amazing hand embroided bags, she was so excited that it didn't occur to her that we would be asleep. These turned out to be one of our best sellers. We involve our staff and customers as much as possible asking for their view. 

 Fashion, shoes and accessories for her and for him

 Are the clothes in the shop representative for your own personal taste? 

The fashion we sell definitely represents our personal taste, but we have to keep the styles open because we need to give our customers a choice. Not everybody likes the same brand, style, cut or colour and not everyone is the same shape, this makes choosing a lot more fun and challenging. 

 Did you choose this shop location for a specific reason?

Ilka had been living in Prenzlauberg for 15 years and really liked the area. It's a really good mix  of people young and old and there is a really good energy about the place, everyone has time to stop and chat and Boxhagener Platz felt just the same. 

Sweet and practical for the little ones 

 How does parenthood go along with being independent business owners? 

It's been an interesting learning curve! It has certainly made our little one a very friendly and easy going person because she gets to meet lots of people. Opening 2 shops and having a baby all in three years has been challenging and stressful but we've had lots of laughs. Having a child does make you manage your time a lot better or at least thats the idea.

 Last year, you opened a new victoria met albert at boxenhagener platz, -how has that been going, and do you plan to expand even more?

It's been brilliant , customers and residents have been very welcoming of the new store and have been super excited and complementing of the concept. Do we intend to expand…

 What are your favorite products in the shop right now?

This season we have chosen a fine collection from Topman first showing in Berlin and it looks great and Ilka's current favorite is the beautifully hand painted ceramics from Bloomingville

For the dream kitchen

 Any advice for aspiring shop-owners?

Don't be afraid of hard work, forget 8 hour days and holidays but enjoy what you're doing, appreciate your staff and customers and keep your feet on the ground.

So, dear readers, if you are located in Berlin, or plan to visit: be sure to make time for loosing yourselves between the shelves and clothes racks in Victoria met Albert and you might end up with unexpected treasures. At least I sure did:

Cup from Bloomingville

Thanks Will and Ilka! 
And thanks VmA -staff for letting me run around the shop for hours with my camera. 
See you soon!

Jona