The Derry Streetwear Brand That Broke Chicago Before Dublin

What began as an online space for locals to discuss fashion candidly and share style tips has grown into something much bigger: a creative force shaping Derry’s cultural identity. And Storefront’s journey is far from conventional. Before hosting pop-ups in Dublin or Belfast, Storefront gained big fans in the fashion world across the Atlantic, after a pop-up in Chicago bought their designs to an international audience.

But for Storefront, success isn’t just about global recognition or sales. It’s about staying authentic—remaining true to the culture and people that inspire them. They encourage others to do the same, championing creativity, individuality, and the courage to embrace personal style. As Storefront continues to grow, they’re championing other creatives, collaborating with Irish designers, and bringing their work to new cities while keeping Derry at the heart of it all.

We sat down with co-founder Connor McKinney to chat about it.

So you guys started as a Facebook Group? 

If you told someone that you were using a Facebook group today, you’d say: what’s wrong with you? But we used to use them years ago. There was one big one back in the day called Basement London, where people always posted about new brands and different artists.

Me and George [Storefront cofounder] live here, and Derry has a big culture for creativity. But there was never a forum for the people to talk about fashion, so we decided to make one. We wanted to be that hub where people didn’t feel embarrassed to talk about style, particularly for men interested in fashion.

“We wanted to be that hub where people didn’t feel embarrassed to talk about style, particularly for men interested in fashion.”

People in London or Belfast or Dublin might be a bit more forthcoming in saying things like: oh it’s a nice tee you’re wearing, and they might stop them on the street. It didn’t really happen as much up here. A lot of people might be quite socially inward, but what they’re wearing demonstrates that they obviously have a sense of style. I think that people should be more vocal about it. Now it’s a bit different.

How did you go from Facebook group to successful storefront?

A guy down here, Ronan Stewart, had a spare space, and he offered it to us for a year. When we started, we were selling the brands we always incorporated in the group at affordable prices; second-hand Stüssy, Palace, vintage things like that. We also sold our own brand. After building a community we decided to tap into our own sense of style and make a tee. First, we bought out a T-shirt based on a logo from the Sopranos. We were like: that was fun, we’ll keep doing it.

 Now we’ve been doing it for five years, and we’ve moved on to our own big unit now. We still sell other brands, but there’s a far greater emphasis on Storefront, our own brand. We’ve made our own identity and community from that alone. Often people don’t even care if you’ve got another brand in stock in-store because they’re just coming for us. 

Is there a sense of community with the other businesses in Derry?

People from Derry are so welcoming towards supporting independent ventures, it makes me really proud of being from here. It’s the whole: rising tide lifts all ships kind of mentality. There’s plenty to go around. 

Our street, Waterloo Street, is the buzziest area. We did a pop-up in Dublin with the Emporium a couple of months ago, and Drury Street reminded me of Waterloo Street, with all the bars and a clothing shop right in the middle of it. Up here, we’re surrounded by independent businesses, which is really nice. 

There’s another Derry independent clothing brand called Han who primarily focuses on women’s wear like hats and scarves. There’s also Amach who have been doing big things. There’s a lot of talented people here and it’s a real community, but getting your name out there is the hardest part.

A big thing for us is that we never wanted people to buy locally just because it’s local. We want them to buy it because they liked it and it was good quality. That’s something we really strive for. Sure, some might buy it to just support us initially, but that only sustains you for so long. Quality is what keeps you going.

“A big thing for us is that we never wanted people to buy locally just because it’s local. We want them to buy it because they liked it and it was good quality.”

So how have you kept people coming back?

Something that validated our work was doing a pop-up in Chicago last January. My friend Austin runs a brand called Austin AG and works with the NBA on different merch for teams. He flew over some of his friends from LA to meet us when we came over, including the graphic designer from this LA brand Fugazi. We collaborated on a tee and hosted the pop-up. 

“We decided to give 100% of our all to Derry”

You know Americans, they love all things Irish, so it was a lot of fun. Since then, every time we release something new, there’s been more orders from the States. We’re planning to go back, maybe to New York as well, and work with some friends who have brands there. We had to take a different route to network. If you’re a London based brand or a Manchester based brand, brands in that city can bring each other up. So we’ve had to foster relationships we did have, with people all over the world. That’s how we ended up in America.

We did a pop-up in Chicago before we did one in Dublin, which is random as anything. Next year, the plan is to travel more and bring our work to different places. We did a big Belfast pop-up just before COVID hit, which was meant to test the waters and see if we should open a permanent location there. But after everything, we decided to give 100% of our all to Derry and enjoy the process rather than spread myself too thin.

Can you tell me a little more about the design process?

Everything is a collaborative process between me and George. This year, we changed our strategy where we’ve started to do seasons. We are planning on releasing coherent spring and summer catalogs with cut and sew polo shirts , cardigans , cargo trousers and jackets.

We’re also experimenting with more adventurous designs and printing techniques. Our last release included zip-ups with embroidered, distressed-looking patches. The simplicity of our name, “Storefront,” is one of the best things for our branding. People ask about it and it’s simple, it just means the front of a store, it doesn’t confine us to a territory. It’s essentially a placeholder that can adapt to different opportunities. Ultimately, we will only bring out stuff we’re really, really happy with. You’ll see people out and about wearing the names of cities they’ve never been to, like Tokyo. It’s cool to see someone on the other side of the world wearing a piece that says Derry on it.

“It’s cool to see someone on the other side of the world wearing a piece that says Derry on it.”

Do you have any advice for someone who’s looking to get into fashion or start their own brand? 

Ensure that what you’re doing is a reflection of your own personal style and interests. Authenticity is ultimately the most important contributing factor towards your brand identity. And if you can establish a good sense of self from the start, it should then carry on to your future designs and outlook.

How have Storefront maintained a strong sense of identity?

In Derry, we have so many cultural references that we could tap into. It’s also a way of giving back to the community. We did a design based on a local boxer that people wouldn’t have known about. He was the first-ever Irish boxer to win gold at the Commonwealth: Spider Kelly. People are now wearing that hoodie with a short story on the back of it essentially. I do think that it’s very, very important to tap into where you’re from.

“I do think that it’s very, very important to tap into where you’re from.”

Growing up, how did you develop your own personal sense of style?

Obviously growing up, everyone would be wearing grey tracksuits, grey joggers every day. But for me, I was always a bit different. I used to go to the States every summer because I’ve got family that live over in Chicago. I would buy these Tony Hawk t-shirts over there and all these Levi’s. I’d come back and wear them and the death I’d used to get for wearing something a bit different.

They’d be like: well, what do you think you’re doing? Do you think you’re all important wearing your jeans where we’re all wearing joggers? I always had my own sense of style, and I think it was probably always kind of based on skater culture, even though you never want to see me on a skateboard.  Music helped too: when people got into Tyler, the Creator, that put people on Supreme. I remember my brother showed me the Yonkers music video, and from then on I was looking at a whole different world fashion wise.

“well, what do you think you’re doing? Do you think you’re all important wearing your jeans where we’re all wearing joggers?”

My style has changed a bit over time, but ultimately it’s the same roots. I’m just trying to wear what I feel comfortable in, while being a stickler for some form of colour coordination.  I have a flexible style where I don’t mind wearing funky prints, colours and silhouettes, and I try to tap this into the brand.

So what’s next?

So a big part of that next year for us is going to be collaborating, and we’re going to try to work with some more independent Irish brands and artists and stuff and try to bring some capsules to life and sort of share a bit of a story about where they’re from as well too. We’re planning more pop-up shops, potentially returning to Dublin and possibly heading back over to the States. We’ve been working on a puffer jacket for nine months and heavyweight fleeces for ten months. After a year of refining everything, we hope to make these available to the public in just a matter of months. We’re aiming to start the year strong and keep the momentum going.