An Australian leatherwear company loved by Margot Robbie, Alexa Chung and Cillian Murphy has confirmed the opening date for its new shop in Marlow.

R. M. Williams, a nearly 100-year-old brand with roots providing hardy leather boots to workers in the outback, will open the doors to its first branch outside of London in the UK – at the former HSBC building on Marlow High Street – in October 2024.

Founded by Reginald Murray Williams back in 1932, it specialises in high-end leatherwear including jackets, bags and belts, and opened its first European store on Bond Street in 1989.

Decades on, the brand – which counts many A-Listers among its clients and is generally priced in the low hundreds – has extended to a second UK branch in Soho as well as sites in New Zealand and the US and over 60 on its home turf.

R. M. Williams applied for planning permission to install a branded sign outside the then-empty unit back in June after freeholder Sorbon Estates was granted permission to ‘revitalise’ the ex-bank at the beginning of the year.

Sorbon has been hard at work transforming the town’s old banks – the last of which departed last summer – throughout 2024, with changes to 46 on the high street including the installation of a new shopfront and first-floor windows.

George Andrews, Assistant Land and Planning Manager at the property investment and development company said the plans would turn central Marlow into a “more vibrant and attractive” place.

Are you looking forward to checking it out next month?