'I'm having to step back from my life's work'

Shoe brand Irregular Choice is closing its final store in Brighton today

A world-renowned shoe shop is closing its final store in Brighton.

Irregular Choice owner Dan Sullivan said due to factors such as Covid, a lack of footfall and rising costs meant it would be closing on 28 September.

The brand, which is known for its colourful collaborations with items featuring film and pop culture characters, says hopes to reopen in some form in the future.

At its height, Irregular Choice had 11 stores open around the world including in London, New York and Hong Kong.

The shop had a wide array of different shoes with cartoons and characters embroidered on them

Dan Sullivan, who founded the brand in 1999, said: "Due to the impact of things since Covid such as the state of the economy and retail, many of our wholesale distributors going under, it's meant we've had to close our store and website and regroup.

"We will see what the future might hold."

The shop is best known for its shoe collections which include film characters such as Darth Vader, Disney princesses and Scooby Do characters.

It was also popular for its array of colourful trainers and high heels, adorned with glitter and sequins.

"The business side, it's been very stressful. On a personal side, it's been unimaginable. This is my life's work which I'm having to worry about and step back from," said Mr Sullivan.

"We're going to do everything we can to try and come back. It's a step back, we're pausing and regrouping."

One of the shoes has a heel with Darth Vader from Star Wars

Irregular Choice opened its first store in New York in 2007, before opening a store in Carnaby Street, London, a year later. It opened its Brighton shop in 2010.

Despite the store closing on Sunday, the website will remain live for the next few weeks selling any remaining stock.

Mr Sullivan thanked Irregular Choice's fans across the world who have bought the majority of its remaining stock, which he said had raised the opportunities for the business to potentially reopen in the future.

"When I started the brand, I didn't know what to call it," said Mr Sullivan.

"The word irregular kept coming up. The product is about being different, being yourself in a world where sometimes the high street can be very brown, black or white."