About Diverse

Fashion is what you’re offered two times a year.
And style is what you choose.  - Lauren Hutton

Saskia Lamche opened Diverse at No.148 Fortess Road, NW5 in 2016. 
Before that, Diverse was located on Upper St, Islington N1 for nearly 30 years.

We specialise in designer clothing, footwear, handbags, jewellery, perfumes and accessories. We are an independent family-run boutique that has worked with an A-Z of international labels, from Acne Studios  > Zakee Shariff for the 30+ years we've served our customers. New deliveries arrive almost every week of the year, however stock of any single product is often very limited; this applies especially to our website.

For Diverse in the media, please see our press/media page here.
For store opening hours and contact info, see our contact page here.

Adele - Saskia - Georgie

You're very welcome to visit the store in person, it's sunlit and breezy (even on warmer days) with a small & peaceful garden, insulated from the noise and bustle of the surrounding streets. Tufnell Park tube is less than a minute's walk from our door.

The boutique team are: Saskia, Georgie, Adele & Eva. We'll be happy to welcome you whenever you visit, and allow you plenty of time & space to look around, if that's what you prefer. If you do need our assistance, we have first hand knowledge of the labels we work with, and always strive to offer a consistently high standard of care & service to all our customers. 

Diverse - history
Saskia's mother Gabrielle Parker & partner Gary Lincoln opened Diverse in the mid-1980s in Upper St, Islington. These were wonderful days with many amazing designers & labels still working their way up. A Georgian townhouse type of store laid out over 2 large floors, Diverse at the time was an emporium of wonders: selling much more than just clothing, it would have pretty much anything Gabrielle's profoundly artistic, well-tuned senses decided was appropriate. 
Gabrielle and Gary (always the 2 best dressed people in any room they enter) charted the direction Diverse went off towards, and their influence is still apparent to any of our customers with us for 20 years +.

Over about 30 years, the boutique at No. 294 became a celebrated destination and local landmark. While Saskia has her own place in the Upper St story, Gabrielle and Gary: ('GG') -are the Mama & Papa of Diverse.

Several of the labels at Diverse in 2020 are like very good friends who we've worked alongside for what seems like ever. It is natural to seek out the new, but many supposedly 'hot' designers or labels that come along, disappear before one can even place them in any context.

After completing her studies in the mid 90's, Saskia learned the trade as a buyer, working alongside Gabrielle for many years before taking over the running of Diverse in the early 00s, a life & job she is very naturally suited towards, lives every day and enjoys very much.

Diverse N1, 1998

We've been very lucky to have had lots of brilliant co-workers over the years, many of whom remain close friends. Here are some of them:

Saskia, Rosa, Sam R, Mirja, Alla, Athena, Chris & Alex of Diverse Menswear, with Fede (right) and Sophie Hulme's pet T-Rex at the Diverse 25th Birthday celebrations

Below: Sam R, Lewis DG, Willow


Below: Early 90's Diverse N1

Diverse in NW5
Fortess Road, Tufnell Park and NW5 in general are great places to live & work, and we would like to do our bit to help keep them that way. We actively engage with all our neighbours, whether residents, businesses or schools and seek to play a positive role in the local area.

We can't mention every great local restaurant, bar or local amenity but if you are visiting Diverse, please look out for the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker -  EG the nice shops & places all around us: SK Vintage Clothing, 90 Degrees picture framers, Ruby Violet ice cream, Bear and Wolf cafe, InsideStore Interiors, Jessica de Lotz the jeweller, Down to Earth Yoga, the tranquil Rustique literary cafe, Beauty Box, the sewing machine repair shop which appears to be in rude health, and the best bakery (Spence) butchers (Meat NW5) florists (Violet & Frederick, kiosk outside the tube) fishmongers (Jonathan Norris) hardware store (Ideal) and lastly greengrocers (Fam) you'll find on a single pavement anywhere in London.

Thanks for reading to the end    :)
Diverse March 2020