Paris meets London: London Village Kids

Paris meets London.

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London Village Kids, they ain’t the ordinary English-born and bred type of kids, but a lifestyle group who came from Paris and united together in London. With the French scene rinsing in London, we at PAUSE met up with the coolest kids in town, London Village Kids, to find out more about their brand LVK, the difference between Paris and London and what we can expect from London Village Kids in 2015.

Tell us when London Village Kids started and how you all met together in London…

London Village Kids started, on paper in 2011, but it really started a year before when 3 French guys met up for the first time in 2010.

The group originated from when mentor Zues Sherlock’s company ‘London Village Events’, which comprised of Fahid, who has since left the group after introducing Abdel and Joseph and later Gaulthier, to create what you see today as London Village Kids.

Abdel and Joseph, both were promoting in the night life and had just started their own personal night when they met the third founder of LVK, Gaulthier, who was also promoting at the time. Upon the three meeting they saw nothing better than to come together as a force and create something bigger.

None of them knew each other before coming to London, all from different backgrounds and cities.

Joseph was the first to arrive in London, Dec. 2006. From a little town at the frontier between France and Switzerland (Thonon Les Bains), he has always been passionate about music (started DJing from the age of 15).

Abdel and Gaulthier arrived around the same time, Dec. 2008, both from different towns (Nice and Paris respectively). One passionate by acting (Abdel) and the other dreaming of shinning (Gaulthier). These French guys were always known for keeping up with their appearances, their interest in fashion as well as their personal style gave them an energy that set them apart from the other people they were surrounded by.

It quickly became obvious why London was called the most expensive city in the world, in the beginning everybody had two part-time jobs to try to survive in this expensive town. Out of the three guys the first to join up were Abdel and Joseph, both were promoting in the night life and had just started their own personal night when they met the third founder of LVK, Gaulthier, who was also promoting at the time. Upon the three meeting they saw nothing better than to come together as a force and create something bigger.

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You guys are known for running some of the best night clubs in London, how did you guys get started?

Being a bunch of creatives in all very different fields made getting the project rolling easy. It all began with taking on weekly events/nights in clubs throughout the West end of London. Putting the nights together was easy for the three, they had all of the components for the night their own DJ (Joseph or his friends), their own concepts (Abdel always had crazy ideas) and their own PR’s and crowd (Gaulthier working on the network). Not only were these three putting together nights with all the essential components but they were adding something that no one had done before, their own authenticity, which was new and exciting for all those experiencing these parties.

The venture did not stop here it was only the beginning!

Tell us about the concept behind London Village Kids and what it all involves…

After the arrival of Gaulthier’s brother Quentin and Pierre, there was a new capacity added to this group of French Kids. With a second generation now joining the three Joseph, Abdel, and Gaulthier saw nothing but the high level of potential they had standing in front of them. The five kids from France came together and examined each of their strengths, fell into their respective fields of passion, and LVK was born!

After five years of establishing a company out of the pure harmony of French kids coming to London in hopes to find their passion LVK is now starting to transform. Not only an events company anymore but a full transformation into a proper lifestyle group with multifaceted expertise within one brand.

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All the kids are taking their personal passions and creating branches of LVK to pursue and brand their branches with the LVK style: LVK Event, LVK Music, LVK Models, La Boutik, and LVK Art…

London was the best town to start with. Unlike the French culture, people in London are receptive to good music and good energy. People aren’t going out to judge each other but to party hard, have fun, and genuinely enjoy their lives. People in London are open-minded, not only open to partying and nightlife but also to new creative things. This is why we chose London and why we decided to stay, because of how international it is. The French touch in the way we do things added to our energy and really caught people’s attention.The reputation that we have made for ourselves in London has also carried over back to Paris and people know when we come to town that our parties will be crazy.

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You guys run a private members club called LVK models, tell us more about this?

Quentin’s project that he started almost a year ago with William is LVKModels. The concept is to provide a healthy lifestyle for national and international female models. All members are signed with the top agencies in London (IMG, Storm, Elite, Select, Premier, Next, FM, Models1, etc). Members get access to a range of privileges such as Gym / Spa / Cinema and Lounge at the W Hotel London where they can relax between castings and socialize with the other members. A selection of key partners and brands help support the privileges offered to our members thanks to promotional activations and sponsoring programs.

In addition to all these privileges, LVKModels provides weekly activities such as Yoga sessions, Gym sessions, Spinning classes and Advice to the members to better their modelling careers. After London, LVKModels will be soon launches this project in Paris, New York, Milan and Barcelona.

You also are launching LA BoutiK, what brands / designers will you guys be selling?

La BoutiK is our fashion branch, it will include an e-shop / showroom with first drop brands like: Damir Doma, Henrik Vibskov, Edmund Ooi, KKTP, Sasu Kauppi, Leigh, Y-Project, Come For Breakfast. The concept of La Boutik is to bring together the image of LVK through different high-end and elegant designers that encompass and share our image and vibe. La Boutik will add a tangible dimension to the LVK brand.

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What is the difference from the way people dress in Paris to London? and if you had to pick one city, would it be London or Paris?

There are a lot of differences between London and Paris in the nightlife but also in other subjects like fashion, people mind, architecture, food…

From a global perspective we would say we prefer London, in terms of parties, lifestyle and how the open-mindedness of people in general. People living in London are open to creativity, working hard, and taking risks. People are happy to see each other succeed and get involved with new projects. This is something we all really respect and try to be a part of. The give and take of being a creative industry, it makes for a better way of life.

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Which city would you guys pick in terms of fashion?

In terms of fashion we would go more for Paris style which is a little more classical but with a chic touch that we rarely find in London. The food also would be a factor of preference.

Paris is the cradle of High End and Luxury fashion, we have the biggest designers like: Christian Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc.

Who in the group is the most known for their style and why?

No one in our LVK crew really stands out in terms of fashion as we all have different and individual styles. The two that are really into fashion and High End brands would be Abdel and Gaulthier, they really dig into it and are always up on the trends going on that are going on as well as being ahead of the curve…

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What is it about wearing the colour black in France? Is this a way of life?

Wearing black in France is kind of a way of life, as explained before, French people are more classic – less eccentric and more sober which is found in the colour black. Wearing the colour black is strong, dominant, and powerful without being intimidating. The colour black brings with it a mindset, it makes people inclined to be interested and eludes a sense of mystery in a very simple way.

What can we look forward to from LVK in 2015?

We are always on the look up for new projects with LVK, but 2015 plans are: