Graffiti artist and nightlife entrepreneur, the Lisbon-born, Paris-raised André Saraiva first came to London in the late 80s, seeking better music, Doc Martin boots and a kinder breed of law enforcer.
“I first came to London in the late 80s. It was the place to come to buy good music – the record stores were so much better than the ones in Paris, especially round Portobello, places like Rough Trade, and other great stores that don’t exist any more. I would get on the train with a girlfriend, take the boat across the channel, “borrow” some records, party and maybe sleep in the park! Sometimes we’d stay in the Portobello Hotel but often we’d just sleep where we could sleep. I have such great memories of that time, going out at night and doing graffiti on the postboxes that were red instead of yellow…and the policemen were much nicer than the Paris gendarmes.
"I have such great memories of that time, going out at night and doing graffiti on the postboxes that were red instead of yellow…and the London policemen were much nicer than the Paris gendarmes."
London is one of my favourite cities so it just seemed natural to open a club in the city. And I’m thinking of moving there so I needed to have somewhere to party when I come over. My ideal day in London would involve some old school shopping – a suit at Anderson & Sheppard, shoes from G.J. Cleverley – then dinner at the Ivy, followed, obviously, by a night at Le Baron.”
Graffiti artist and nightlife entrepreneur, the Lisbon-born, Paris-raised André Saraiva first came to London in the late 80s, seeking better music, Doc Martin boots and a kinder breed of law enforcer. His days were spent roaming the streets and record stores of Portobello, while the nights were made up of raucous parties and daubing his, now iconic, top-hatted Mr A. tag across the city.
Obviously, times have changed since he last evaded arrest and slept in parks during his London jaunts. Today, his right index finger is permanently swollen, testament to thousands and thousands of hours of spraypainting, and he is about to open the UK branch of his nightclub Le Baron. The Paris and Tokyo versions are famous as enclaves of star-studded hedonism, and London's version looks set to operate on the same formula, with an added twist of nostalgia for Saraiva’s early memories of the city. And with the walls carpeted in works by Banksy and photographs by Olivier Zahm, and with the entrance stowed behind a secret door in an Old Burlington Street basement, Le Baron is sure to bring some neon-lit Parisian intrigue to late nights in London.
Le Baron London, at 13 Masons Yard SW1, opens on 3rd April.
