Great Scotland Yard Launches With A Fresh, Creative & Criminally Inspired Uniform

e are pleased to finally announce the opening of our client's new premises in the heart of London's Whitehall. Great Scotland Yard, former home of the Metropolitan Police, has been on an ambitious journey since its purchase in 2015, reimagining itself as the modern destination we see today. The owners focus has been to fuse the grandness of the building with its illustrious heritage, in an up-to-date style.

Once a dwelling for visiting Kings of Scotland during the Tudor period, hence the name, today the building is most famous as the former headquarters of the Metropolitan Police force from 1829-1890. It was during this time the Plaistow Marshes and Jack the Ripper crimes were investigated at Great Scotland Yard, and the building was immortalised in the works of writers including Dickens and Conan Doyle. In 1910, the building served as the British Army Recruitment Office and Royal Military Police headquarters and it was here that Lord Kitchener famously told WWI recruits 'Your Country Needs You'.

Studio 104 were selected near the start of the £160m project for our creative approach and specialist storytelling expertise that the owners were super keen to bring to this venture. Our brief was to showcase the location's notorious past and make relevant to a modern international audience in a distinctly playful London fashion.

Therefore we began with the Great Scotland Yards most famous occupants the 40 Elephants, a gang of glamorous women who stitched concealed pockets into their clothing to hold stolen goods. This ignited our key concept of 'Inside Out', a play on 'Turn Your Pockets Out', where our uniform designs would follow the path of actively displaying their interiors.

Much loved by the client we then progressed into our design phase that focussed on a contemporary, fashion-led look. Inspired by trendsetter Commes de Garcon and their local Dover Street Market, we created super cool coats and overcoats that cleverly displayed the interiors on their exterior. Stripes also had the designer treatment, well known as vintage prison attire, Studio 104 took a playful direction to stripes which flowed through a large part of the uniform collection.

Finally, a wonderful summation of Studio 104's approach to the brief and the client's ambition arrived in the uniform's metal hardware, where modern fashion and streetwear met one-of-a-kind heritage and storytelling. Staff were given belt chains that carried bespoke knuckle dusters and punk-inspired safety pins came with dog tags attached. This truly exemplified the client's key aim of achieving that one-off experience.

Great Scotland Yard is part of the Hyatt's 'Unbound Collection', a portfolio of independent hotel properties, ranging from historic urban gems to contemporary trendsetters and boutique properties to resorts. Whether it is a fascinating past, an exclusive location, famous architecture and design, or an award-winning dining experience, each of the brand’s 19 hotels has its own distinct narrative and creates novel, story-worthy experiences for guests.

Some great articles about the hotel's launch...

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/house-arrest-great-scotland-yard-hotel

https://howtospendit.ft.com/great-scotland-yard-fine-dining-theatrics

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Written by Stephen @ Studio 104