A London Shop Full Of Tassels And Trimmings

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A few decades ago, Annabel Lewis was having dinner with friends in London and, over a couple of bottles of wine, they tried to come up with a name for the ribbon, trimmings and accessories store she was planning to open. Eventually, the group consulted a French dictionary.

"Everything sounds quite good in French," Ms. Lewis said recently, sitting in her small office at V V Rouleaux, the name they chose that night.

"We went through the dictionary. This is rolls of ribbon, so rouleaux means rolls," she said, referring to the shop's specialty item. "We just did V V before it because it sounded good."

In spite of its Francophile name, V V Rouleaux — which has moved several times since its opening in 1990, and now is in the Marylebone neighborhood of London — resembles a notions shop that the ladies' maids from "Downton Abbey" might have frequented.

The shop, which totals about 900 square feet on two levels, has colorful spools of ribbon, including grosgrain and velvet; tiny tassels that could be used on key chains and giant ones that might become curtain tie-backs; wide headbands in tweed or bouclé, reminiscent of a Chanel suit; metallic flowers; and brooches made of wool.

There are corsages of perforated patent leather, too. They, like many things in the store, are made by hand, in this case at a factory in Italy. "The only way to make them is handmade," Ms. Lewis said. "They're cut out — it's like making pastry."

Ribbons come from ateliers in Italy, France, the Netherlands and other countries, while some of the distinctive fabrics are made by Linton Tweeds, a British company that also has worked with Bottega Veneta, Celine and Gucci.

Hats — the V V Chapeaux collection — were added to the stock about 25 years ago and now provide about a third of the business's annual sales. Ms. Lewis said revenues exceeded a million pounds (about $1.3 million) in 2023, although she declined to be specific about the total.