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New art gallery at Bankside dry cleaners

London SE1 website team

Spots Dry Cleaners in Great Guildford Street near Tate Modern is also Unit 24 gallery with its launch exhibition featuring the Koko Bottoli leather product brand.

New art gallery at Bankside dry cleaners
Vanessa Koko Bottoli
Vanessa Koko Bottoli
New art gallery at Bankside dry cleaners

Founder Vanessa Koko Bottoli has mounted a dramatic display of her bags hanging from one wall so all each one can be seen as if being carried or even viewed from below on maybe a staircase.

Her belts hang in a more accessible row above the dry cleaning awaiting collection.

Koko, whose designs were used by Paul Smith even before she graduated from the London College of Fashion, established Koko Bottoli as a response to her own often fruitless attempts to find suitable handbags.

"A lot of my friends could not find bags that were durable and stylish that could be used on an everyday basis to go out and to go to work" said Koko during her visit from her home in Milan. "There was a huge gap. You could find very cheap bags and you could find very expensive bags."

The Koko Bottoli label was introduced in 2006 with an emphasis on elegant and timeless designs offering quality and functionality.

At Unit 24 she has made use of the giant Spots O logo hanging above the counter which instantly reminded her of the suspended circle she had specially made for her first show in Milan.

Unit 24 is the concept of photographer Ania Cerelczak and Adrian Szczech who are planning to bring a number of artists to Bankside as well as occasionally giving space to artists working in SE1.

Spots Dry Cleaners is a family business founded in Islington 47 years ago.

Koko Bottoli continues until Friday 5 December. Unit 24 at 20 Great Guildford Street is open Mon to Fri 8am to 5pm; Sat 10am to 5pm.

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