Carlos Myristis and his son Peter of Wearite have kitted out Arctic expeditions – and the odd Ska fan or two, writes Dan Carrier

THOMMO had had his eye on the jacket for some time – they were coveted by the schoolboy musician and his friends. But the only problem was he didn’t have the readies.
He would gaze longingly at the Harrington bomber in the window of the Camden Town store Ben Nevis – also known as Wearite, after the tailoring branch of the company based upstairs.
Proprietor Carlos Myristis liked Thommo – he would pop in with his friends who were in the process of putting together the band that became Madness. Thommo played the saxophone, and as local boys, they knew his shop was one of the best places to get the gear they and their mates were always decked out in. The Harrington jacket, drain pipe trousers – Mr Myristis had them all.
But he wasn’t going to turn a blind eye when Thommo tried to lift a jacket that was hanging outside the camping and protective gear emporium.
The story, on Thommo’s website, goes like this: “I had seen the one I wanted and walked past it a few times,” Thommo says. “I knew Peter was serving customers so I slipped past and grabbed it.”
But the eagle eyed shop owner was well aware of the ruse – and gave chase.
“He ended up running the entire length of Kentish Town road, up Fortess Road and well into Archway,” Thommo recalled.
“He was fit for a man of his age.”
Wearite has been in Camden since 1962. It is a family business – Peter, Carlos’s son, runs it now with Alex Lymbourys and has worked in the shop since it was set up, looking after the counter after school.
It was originally a factory making hard wearing coats and protective gear upstairs, while Carlos sold the goods downstairs. Still, much of their work comes from bulk orders – they are used by London councils to keep their workers safe – and they are distributors for the American work wear company Dickies and the UK company Regatta.
But it was the company’s ability to make Harrington’s the archetypal bomber jacket so in vogue, that made them a store for people in fashion as well as builders and the like.
“Despite my fathers attempt to catch him, Thommo and the rest of the band still come in,” says Peter.
Away from the work clothes Peter sells tents, camping gas stoves, sleeping bags – every thing intrepid explorers could want, although a lot of his trade comes from the weekend-away brigade and festival goers. However, his shop has kitted out teams going further afield.
The Cape Farewell expedition, which featured scientists and artists going to the Arctic to highlight the effect of global warming, were all kitted out from the crowded little store on Royal College Street. They have so much experience that manufacturers use them as a sounding board for the latest hi-tech gadgets. Peter explains: “It has changed a lot since I was a lad here. The days of big old canvas tents you would have to air, hanging in your garden for three weeks after using them, are long gone.
“They are light weight, easy to put up and comfortable.”
And they still get regulars coming by who have been shopping here for years.
“Lots of our customers come in and say their parents have told them about us,” says Peter.
“And a lot of the customers who used to come in for a size 30 waist now pop in and leave with a XXXL pair instead.”

• Wearite, 237 Royal
College Street, NW1.
0207 485 9989