Shop Review: HepCat Store

Posted March 4, 2012

Sunday the 26th of February 2012 would have been the 80th birthday of the legendary country bass-baritone singer Johnny Cash, and even though he’s sadly no longer among us, there’s no reason not to honour and celebrate him. That was what the boys from HepCat Store in Lund decided to do, and attending the event was the perfect excuse for me to spent a Sunday visiting their shop, which I had wanted to do since I first met Robert the owner last fall in Copenhagen.

HepCat Store is a “destination shop” that opened in 1999. The shop is part of the so-called HepTown situated on the outskirts of Lund, Sweden (view map) which is less than an hour by train from Copenhagen. The building of the shop used to be a garage for ambulances of the old Sankt Lars mental hospital, and the HepCats still have one of the old ambulances in display outside the store – at least they had when I visited.

HepTown is a 1950s lifestyle rockabilly, surf, ska, jazz, lounge community that’s working around the Öresund area in the southern part of Sweden and Copenhagen. Besides shopping in the HepCat Store you can attend pop-up night clubs and concerts, dance courses (primarily Lindy Hop), buy records from their own independent label “HepTown Records”, and have all kinds of services arranged including dance shows, special courses, theme parties, and almost anything you can think of that’s connected to the retro lifestyle culture. To find out more about current events visit HepTown’s website.

Every rockabilly needs his pomade, and the HepCats have a huge selection.

The shop DJ behind the counter. I was told that they are planning to rearrange the interior of the shop and move the counter to the other side of the room. So it may look a little different if you visit the shop in the future.

When it comes to clothing brands it almost goes without saying that the selection in HepCat Store is heavily influence by the rockabilly wardrobe. The brand list includes Pace, DePalma Clothing, Lee 101, Dr. Martens, Johnson Woolen Mills, Pendleton, and of course Pike Brothers, which the guys behind the store are distributing in Scandinavia. Find out more about the all the brands here.

Lots of dry denim, workwear pants, and bib overalls.

Naturally, HepCat Store also carries worker boots from Red Wing Shoes.

If you need some rockabilly gear like skirts or dry selvage jeans in miniature sizes, you’ll most likely be able to find some in HepCat Store.

HepCat Store also sells leather goods and accessories from Flying Zacchinis, a brand that’s heavily inspired by the crossfield of American and Japanese biker cultures.

Outside the shop visitors where grillin’ and chillin’.

Inside, the Danish Cash-cover trio, Johnny Horsepower performed some of the Cash classics in the familiar “boom-chicka-boom” manner. The trio is as close as you get to Johnny Cash in Scandinavia, so if you ever want to experience what he was like live, don’t hesitate to book the three horsepowers.

The room was crammed with admires.

Regarding dry denim, especially two pairs caught my attention, one of them being this pair of shrink-to-fit Big John RARE jeans that are crafted by skilled Japanese artisans and craftsmen. The 70s inspired selvage fabric is 15.5oz dry denim that will shrink up to 9%. So if you’re planning to wash these beauties HepCat Store suggests that you size up to two inches in the waist. You can buy the jeans here.

The other pair that I just had to take a closer look at was these Eat Dust jeans. The print on the pocket bag tells a detailed story of the jeans. The guys behind Eat Dust describe the brand as, ” fueled by friendship and mutual interest,” and that they are not into making fashion, but rather proper garments and good designs that will stand the test of time.