Husband and wife fashion couple, Ben and Kelly Lanbury, want to redirect the spotlight of style from the runway to the street in their new book, From Estate to Sloane Street. With a combined 60 years of fashion experience, this duo Ben Lanbury, a stylist, and Kelly Lanbury, a fashion editor have a story that shows their commitment to accessible style. Growing up on South of England estates (Ben in Whitehawk, Brighton, and Kelly in London estates), they now rub shoulders with the biggest names in fashion, but their passion lies in finding the cutting-edge styles in the housing estates across the world.
Ben and Kelly Lanbury’s main focus in From Estate to Sloane Street is a global style tour of what kids are wearing in New York or London and how brands such as Adidas, Nike and Supreme (sold everywhere) seem to look so unique and stylish on certain groups in certain areas – and how all of us can adopt that look. Ben Lanbury asks the question “why do some of the coolest young people in estates and neighbourhoods across London, New York, and Rome look so effortlessly chic?” Ben and Kelly Lanbury reveal that it’s almost never the price tag, but an authentic sense of style and the need to be unique combined with clever, affordable tweaks to the mainstream look.
The Ben and Kelly Lanbury – the estate look
From Estate to Sloane Street is a deep dive into streetwear that isn’t expensive but looks totally cool, showcasing how young people are making highly available clothing look unique. It’s a fun, practical walkthrough of street fashion and journalism – filled with affordable fashion hacks for men and women, proving that top-tier style is available to even the most stylish blind and money poor of us.
The book also chronicles the couple’s journey, from meeting at London fashion school (Ben in styling, Kelly in fabric design) to their separate, formative careers at major fashion brands and media outlets. This dual perspective—mastering high-end distribution in South East Asia and major UK media—equipped them with the knowledge to translate catwalk trends back to the high street buyer. A key focus is their expertise in transforming second-hand designer and vintage clothing found in thrift stores or on platforms like Vinted into rejuvenated, contemporary fashion items—a hack they convey in-depth to help readers affordably boost their wardrobe. Ultimately, Ben and Kelly Lanbury are not just writing a style guide; they are charting the course for how true style flows: from the estate to the high street, making elite fashion accessible to the masses.
Estate streetwear from Ben and Kelly Lanbury
Ben and Kelly address this frenetic energy surrounding modern streetwear brands in their book, highlighting the shift from grassroots street culture to manufactured mainstream apparel. They examine the global success of labels like Supreme, which began as a single independent skate shop in Lower Manhattan and now spans three continents and worn by millionaire artists and estate kids alike. They also explore newer imprints dominating the scene, such as Teddy Santis’ Aimé Leon Dore and Lev Tanju’s Palace, where scarcity of products mean there’s a huge demand in even the most basic items like a t-shirt. Kelly Lanbury states: “The spirit of true street style was about individuality and low-key finds. Now, the biggest labels have weaponized ‘hype,’ turning a simple hoodie into a highly-prized commodity, entirely changing the game for young buyers.”
The book delves into the mechanics of this hype-driven culture where demand is kept purposefully low, noting that securing items from these streetwear labels is not an easy task. The authors detail the “real commitment” required from fans, drawing parallels with the trainer industry. They discuss phenomena like “camping” where people queue up outside stores for days at a time, to secure a new release. They even touch upon the trend of paying others to wait in queues to secure a desired piece and indeed the resellers who are making huge profits online. Ben Lanbury adds: “Our mission isn’t to dismiss these brands, but to show readers that you don’t need to spend a week ‘camping’ or pay a premium to achieve that effortlessly cool aesthetic. The real gold is in knowing how to style the accessible items while understanding the history of what made these iconic brands cool in the first place.”
