“My mum started [If Only If in 2011] because she couldn’t find the nighties she grew up wearing and saw her own mother wear,” says Emily Campbell. Campbell, who joined the business six years ago as owner and creative director, describes how the “buttery soft voiles and luxurious silks” that featured in the nightdresses of her mother Issy Falkner’s memories were missing from the market. Driven by this yearning for nostalgia, comfort and tradition, the mother-daughter team has grown If Only If into a conscious, slow-fashion brand that designs timeless clothing from natural materials for women and children of all ages and sizes (its range goes up to UK size 24). Now, it’s opened its first store, in Belgravia.
It’s the latest chapter for the business, which Campbell has helped propel since leaving her job as a primary school teacher in 2020 and joining the business. She identified an opportunity to engage a younger customer who, like her, valued comfortable clothing “designed for bed, but that leans into femininity and craftsmanship”. After successfully steering the company through a rebrand and an expansion into daytime clothing – and seeing its nighties worn by Megan Stalter in Lena Dunham’s Netflix show Too Much – the next step was launching a debut shop.
Located within a Grade II-listed red brick building on Elizabeth Street, the boutique invites visitors into its dreamy, whimsical world with a warm biscuit-toned facade that Campbell says perfectly reflects the “inherently welcoming and modern timelessness” ethos that the brand stands for. Garments – including blouses with ruffled collars that are part of the product expansion Campbell spearheaded – hang front and centre in the window. Just behind them, the brand’s signature cotton nighties are displayed alongside store-exclusive items like scrunchies and accessories in matching fabrics.
Campbell envisioned a space where customers would feel like they were “stepping into a beautiful bedroom”, a brief she shared with interior designer Lonika Chande. Cosy pinks, hardwood floors, a pendant light from Elizabeth Street neighbour Matilda Goad and a curtain attached to the till sewn by Falkner all come together to bring the If Only If universe to life. “Just as we aim to [do] with our nightie offering, I wanted the store to be somewhere [where] every generation [felt] welcome,” she explains.
Campbell says that Elizabeth Street was the only location she entertained for the brand’s first store. Though she loves how the street has become a hub for independent – and particularly female-founded – businesses, the “quintessentially London” neighbourhood also delivered a strong dose of nostalgia.
“Everything about Elizabeth Street is twinkly, yet completely welcoming. Its cobbled street, lamp posts, and shopfronts remind me of a JM Barrie book. It’s intoxicating in its beauty, and to have my business be a part of that is truly special.”
If Only If
59 Elizabeth Street, SW1W 9PP
Hours:
Mon to Fri 10am–6pm
Sat 10am–5pm
Sun 11am–4pm
