Cubitts

You wouldn't believe the number of people who write to tell us that the naming of our Lilacs colour chip is some sort of printing error. ⁠
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We'd never make such a mistake. Of course it's really a clue in an elaborate game that you'll have to piece together thread by thread to uncover the dark secret at the heart of Cubitts.

This weekend, for one day only, Cubitts Broadway Market will be the only establishment in the world serving both spectacles and pies. As far as we know.⁠
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F. Cooke will return to serve pie and mash from the building they called home for over a century, alongside a small collection of spectacles made in our workshop inspired by the parsley green of liquor sauce.⁠
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Saturday 23rd September, 11-5.

The shelves of Cubitts Spitalfields are designed after the Jacquard looms of Huguenot silk weavers who made the area their home in the 19th century.

In the stairwell, a handwoven tapestry by contemporary artist Majeda Clarke brings this textile tradition to the modern day.

Our Leeds store, nestled in the heart of the Victoria Quarter, draws from early 20th century retail spaces, creating a utilitarian yet elegant, understated approach to spectacle display, fusing Victorian cabinetry with Art Deco references, and hints of British Modernism.

The moment you’ve been waiting for is very nearly here.

9 Broadway Market was home to pie and mash shop F. Cooke for over a century.
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Our reinterpretation of the space includes this replacement for a sign that once instructed patrons to 'Eat More Eels'.

A cloth designed exclusively for Cubitts Broadway Market by East London Illustrator Alec Doherty.⁠
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Alec’s work revels in the rebellious spirit of adolescence, teenage lives and loves refracted through rose tinted lenses. The chosen work is entitled Sticky Dance Floor, one of a series of oil and gouache paintings depicting a raucous night out.⁠
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All proceeds from sales of the cloth will be donated to The Outrunners, a charity improving the lives of young people in East London through a programme led by running.

Hold me closer frame enhancer.

An evening with Cubitts and Sofar Sounds, Thursday 1st June.⁠
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We’re celebrating summer's arrival with an evening of musical merriment with our friends at Sofar Sounds, featuring three secret artists playing secret sets in unknown musical genres. The Small Beer Brewery provides the stage and the libation, a refreshing low alcohol beer to quench our anticipatory thirst.⁠
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We’re giving away two tickets and an evening’s bar tab for this polyphonic celebration. To win, tell us something you’ve observed heralding summer’s arrival.

Introducing our new cleaning cloth by Morag Myerscough, an artist best described through her mantra: ‘make happy those who are near and those who are far will come’. ⁠
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A rhapsody in colour and symmetry, the cloth draws on designs made for Joy Garden, an installation Morag created for Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The project was a collaboration with Artfelt, a charity working to transform the spaces and surroundings of children’s hospitals, helping children to recover in an environment tailored to them.⁠
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All proceeds will be donated to Artfelt.

The Art Deco stained glass window at Cubitts Broadway Market, with its vibrant starburst motif, was installed in the 1930s, helping F. Cooke to establish the distinctive architectural character of the London pie and mash shop.⁠
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Read more about this store's place in the history of pie and mash on our journal.

Cruikshank. A frame in constant suspense. Gripping the head with its benevolent coddle.

Please resist the temptation to flip someone else's clip, however much it pains you. However tempted you are by its satisfying ratchet mechanism. However intrigued by its snaking metal tendrils.⁠
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Go flip your own clip.

Introducing Cubitts Broadway Market, offering spectacles, eye examinations, on-site repairs, and bespoke services in the historic site of F. Cooke’s pie, mash, and eel shop. The former tenant’s signage still proudly announces the century they spent here.⁠
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In 1939, the the store was fitted with its signature blue and yellow patterned tiling, terrazzo flooring, inset mirror panels, and unique Art Deco stained glass window, helping to cultivate an aesthetic unique to the pie and mash shop. We've restored those features, placing a renewed emphasis on the tangible history of the building.⁠
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The original marble-topped dining tables have become intuitive spectacle displays with bespoke cabinetry, while a 1930s opticians' sign marks the move from eels to eyes.⁠
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Regretfully, hot and jellied eels are not available as advertised. We recommend F. Cooke’s shops in Hoxton and Chelmsford.

Introducing Cubitts x TOAST⁠ · Framing Waste⁠
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Offcut acetate gathered from the Cubitts workshop floor and combined into a single kaleidoscopic material. Then cut, polished and reformed into Frederick, defined by a rectangular silhouette, saddle bridge and thick temples.⁠
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Each pair of Frederick REDUX sunglasses is accompanied by a TOAST ikat pouch, traditionally kantha-stitched from layers of discarded sari fabric by artisans supported by Sasha, a cooperative which TOAST has worked with for over ten years.⁠
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The Cubitts x TOAST collaboration is available to purchase in select Cubitts and TOAST stores and both sites.

Say what you see.⁠
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I see me and my pals sunning ourselves on a beach, some time in the near future.

We always sunbathe in a circle. Touching feet. Naked. We're very comfortable with our bodies.

Umber, a pigment used in painting for centuries, it's thought to be named after an inaccurate translation of terre d'ombre, meaning 'earth of the shadows'. Rendered in translucent acetate, it makes for a fine work of art.

I'm not the clip flipper I'm the clip flipper's son and I'm only flipping clips til the clip flipper comes.

The flip-clip. a tantalising sight of summer's first kiss, tinted lenses hovering with no sign of sway in their sturdy hinges, like a bird of prey threatening to swoop down at the first sight of sun.⁠
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But threatening only.⁠
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Everything left unsaid. Undone. Unflipped.⁠
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And then a disturbance in the clouds above, a silver lining. A beam of light across the brow. A squint. A look of determination. A creeping hand making for the lens.⁠
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Brace yourself.⁠
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Drumroll please.⁠
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Everybody flip when the clip drops.⁠
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Everybody lose it when the clip flips.

It is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to pass through the coquettish little gap between Caledonia's lenses and frame.

The steadiest of hand will be able to delicately position Grimaldi on its angular edge, ready to be grabbed at a sunburst's notice.

Get ready exhilarator. It's about to get brighter.

The world through Ocean Fade is all sand dunes and salty air.⁠
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A new non-prescription tint available in all our frames, exclusively online.

Read more about our full range of tints through the link in our bio.

Seeing the world through apricot tinted lenses. Not yet a phrase, but we're working on it.⁠
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A healthier nostalgia. A nostalgia for the future. An affection for everything to come.⁠
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Lenses manner of kaleidoscopic tints are now available in every frame as non-prescription tints, exclusively online.

As the light begins to creep over the horizon, we’re revisiting this bespoke creation for , a design as unique as her.

A meteorologically optimistic frame, with verdant cloud- and sun-tipped temples, sky blue lugs, and a rainbow bridge.

Featuring multiple laminations, gold hinges, and rose tinted lenses, in the shape of a heart of course.

The words ‘à la poursuite de la bonheur’ are aptly engraved on its temples. Perhaps chasing happiness and chasing the sun are the same thing, after all.

Created from scratch through our Bespoke+ service.

Each passerby instilled a pang of expectation and an ensuing wave of disappointment, his nervous anticipation building with the dawn until with a palpable synergy the object of his expectation and the sun’s glow landed as one on his tinted lenses.

Grimaldi. Made to splinter sunlight on its sculpted façade.

While the sun lay fallow, Goldington perched upon his chest like a resting butterfly. Threatening at any moment to flutter away.

Threatening only.