About

What is Uptown Yardie?

Uptown Yardie is a British company inspired by Jamaican heritage, selling a lifestyle, captured through shoes and clothes.

 

The origin of Uptown Yardie 

Inspired by a Bob Marley quotation “me ah bring downtown uptown” meaning he is bring the man dem from the ghetto to where he was living uptown at the time. The original uptown yardie is someone who comes from the more affluent parts of Jamaica. 

Uptown Yardie is also about reclaiming the name from a negative association to a positive. To the true meaning of the word “yard” which to a Jamaican means home. For instance “nowhere nah better dan yard” mean nowhere is better than home. 

The Uptown Yardie brand today embodies a progressive man or woman who does not follow fashion. Who refuses to be put into a box, but thinks outside of it. Who is aware of current trends and the lover of well designed beautiful things but not at all dictated by them. Who likes to wear clothing that does not wear them. Who has a passion and love for things that are well crafted and that has more longevity than one season.

 

The vision

“Out of many we are one with a common spirit to create beautiful products yard style”

Our vision is to create for a community of people who have not been catered for by mainstream fashion. 

We believe that our product should have a distinctive and individual character like that of its owner, without compromising quality for uniqueness. Quality is paramount to the Uptown Yardie brand, it must have a purpose and functionality not just be different for different sake.


It’s appeal

Although inspired by Jamaican heritage, Uptown Yardie appeals to people that think outside the box. It is a brand that crosses boundaries, ages and races. 

At Uptown Yardie we are passionate about the shoes we produce; we know this is a passion shared by our enthusiastic owners. We are poised upon the threshold of something that is truly special. We have created a diverse and exclusive range of hand-finished and hand-made (Black Label Collection) shoes, designed and patterned by British footwear designer/maker Rohan Clarke influenced by his Jamaican heritage.

We believe that a shoe should have a distinctive and individual character that is shaped through the ideas and vision of it designer and craftsman who are united and driven by a common goal, a common spirit to create the most beautiful shoes. Each piece has been carefully selected by our team to ensure it embodies the qualities of style, elegance and exclusivity synonymous with the Uptown Yardie brand whilst reflecting the unique philosophies of design and craftsmanship for which Rohan Clarke is renowned.

 

THE COLLECTION

The collection is made in Northampton, the heart of tradition and expert English shoemaking. The craftsmanship can be found in the perfect stitching detail of the leather, the hand finished soles and the punching of the uppers. The Uptown Yardie collection captivates the senses with fantastic colours reminiscent of early Venetian masters and the pre-Raphaelite artists. The beauty of the line, the delicacy entwined with a daring modernist style sets this seductive collection comfortably into the 21st century. Uptown Yardie shoes are fresh beautiful and fantastically original. These distinctive shoes can only be described as “angelic works of art to be walked in”.