Upside Down

(© Saskia Vanderstichele)

Between all the shops, hotels, restaurants, and art galleries on chaussée de Charleroisesteenweg, you will now also find the recently opened vintage/antique shop Upside Down. The owner, Uwe Deepen, is not unknown in the business, for more than twenty years he managed the antique shop Modern Studio at the Sablon. But because the area gradually filled up with “too many chocolate shops”, he decided to leave. After spending a long time in London, he found the right building in Sint-Gillis/Saint-Gilles and decided to establish something new. The varied selection of shops on chaussée de Charleroisesteenweg appealed to him, and he hoped Upside Down would profit from all the pedestrian traffic on the street. The strategy worked, on the way to a meeting a bit further up the road, I ran into this new shop. Upside Down is barely the size of a living room, and yet it is almost impossible to take everything in; furniture from the 1980s, unusual knick-knacks (such as an English clothes brush shaped like a duck), old jewellery by Chanel, second-hand leather bags by Hermès (some up to twenty years old), silk scarves and ties, broaches, etc. It is all carefully chosen and acquired by Deepen himself. He does not stick to a certain time period, but selects pieces that he knows his customers will like. The price? The owner describes it as being “between the Sablon and the Marolles”, which means between 50 and 10,000 euro. For the latter, you can buy a Hermès crocodile leather handbag that would cost at least twice as much new (if you don’t end up on a waiting list). Despite the fact that Deepen would like to keep things small, he is planning to expand the selection in the near future: made to measure linens of the same standard as at the best hotels. We look forward to it!

Upside Down ●●●
chaussée de Charleroisesteenweg 84, Sint-Gillis/Saint-Gilles, wo/me/We > vr/ve/Fr 14 > 18.30 & za/sa/Sa 11 > 18.30