Aloft brings the colour, character and easy-going spirit of Padstow and Salcombe to clothes, accessories and the home.
There is a particular kind of coastal style that looks wonderful beside the sea and faintly ridiculous everywhere else. Too many anchors, too many stripes, perhaps a decorative rope bracelet that suggests you may be required to moor a yacht at short notice. Aloft takes a rather more relaxed approach.
Born in Padstow and now also at home in Salcombe and at Avon Mill near Kingsbridge, the independent retailer has built its look around colour, comfort and the kind of clothes you genuinely want to wear when the day involves coffee, a walk, lunch somewhere good and possibly a beach if the weather behaves. It is coastal, certainly, but not costume.
Colour without the shouting
What immediately appeals is the colour. Aloft isn’t afraid of it, and neither does everything have to arrive in regulation navy and white simply because the sea is nearby. Its current mix includes expressive knitwear, easy layers, casual shirts, beachwear and accessories, alongside more familiar coastal staples. The result feels cheerful rather than themed.
That matters because the best holiday clothes are usually the ones that come home with you and continue earning their keep. A good knit, an easy shirt or a useful jacket shouldn’t suddenly stop making sense because you’ve crossed the Severn Bridge. Aloft’s stronger pieces have that quality: relaxed enough for Padstow, but perfectly capable of surviving Cardiff, Oxford or a wet Tuesday almost anywhere.
The joy of a good knit
Swedish brand Holebrook is one of Aloft’s longstanding favourites, and it’s easy to understand why. Its windproof knitted jackets and layers are exactly the sort of clothing the British coast makes a convincing case for. Sunshine may be the plan; a brisk breeze usually has other ideas.
Aloft also mixes in smaller and emerging labels rather than relying entirely on names you’ll find everywhere else. That gives the shops some personality. The company says it deliberately looks for products with something a little different about them, and the current collection bears that out.
Aloft’s own personality
There is an Aloft range too, where the brand can have a little more fun. Shirts, casual pieces and accessories carry the laid-back holiday mood without trying too hard. You might find a marine motif here or an OUT OF OFFICE cap there, but the overall effect is playful rather than painfully nautical.
And that, for us, is probably the sweet spot. Coastal style works best when it suggests the sea rather than arriving dressed as a lighthouse.
More than clothes
The lifestyle idea extends beyond the wardrobe. Aloft at Home, based at Avon Mill Garden Centre near Kingsbridge, takes the same relaxed approach into homeware, mixing British and European brands with beach-inspired and vintage finds. Again, it is less about turning your house into a holiday cottage and more about borrowing some of the colour, texture and informality that make coastal interiors so appealing.
It also makes Aloft an interesting place for gifts. Jewellery, accessories, homeware and smaller lifestyle pieces sit naturally alongside the clothing, so you don’t necessarily need to know someone’s dress size to come away with something they’ll enjoy.
It feels properly coastal
Perhaps the reason the whole thing hangs together is that the coastal connection isn’t simply a marketing department invention. Aloft talks about swimming in local coves, paddleboarding the estuary, walking the coastal paths and understanding what people actually need for days spent beside the sea. Its shops are part of the places that inspired the look.
That gives the brand permission to have a little fun with the idea. Earlier this year, for example, the Salcombe shop hosted artist Emily Powell during Regatta Week, bringing painting, colour and fashion together in the store. It is the sort of collaboration that makes sense because Aloft feels more like a lifestyle business than a conventional clothing chain.
A little bit of holiday at home
Perhaps that is Aloft’s real appeal. Most of us can’t spend our lives wandering between Padstow harbour and a Salcombe terrace, however attractive the idea might be. What we can do is steal a little of the mood.
A colourful knit. A relaxed shirt. Something for the house that reminds you of a favourite weekend away. Clothes that don’t require ironing within an inch of their lives. None of it is revolutionary, and that’s rather the point. Good lifestyle retail is often about finding things that make everyday life feel just a little nicer.
Aloft describes its ambition as bringing a little bit of sunshine wherever you may be. Given the British climate, we could probably use some.
Discover Aloft
You can explore the current fashion, accessories and homeware collections at The Aloft Shop.
If you’re particularly interested in presents, gift ideas, customer service and buying online, we’ve taken a closer look at Aloft over at Gifted Gift Guide.
Where to find Aloft
Padstow
5-7 Duke Street, Padstow, Cornwall
Salcombe
64 Fore Street, Salcombe, Devon
Aloft at Home
Avon Mill Garden Centre, Loddiswell, near Kingsbridge
Website: thealoftshop.com
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