Based on the premise that every story in a city has more than a few intriguing side stories, a new London tour company connects travellers with an impressive collection of creative insiders, each an authority in their field.
Among the 10 experts currently allied with SideStory are award-winning photographer Stuart Freedman; portrait artist Rosalind Freeborn; stylist Hannah Teare, a former fashion director at Tatler; Karim Samuels, a practising street artist; photojournalist Antonio Olmos; and Joshua White, a writer and lecturer at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and the Tate. Each offers unique insights into the city’s cultural life.
“Those people have expertise and access to really provide a contemporary insight into a city,” says co-founder Giovanni Donaldson. The story behind SideStory “is about people first and foremost – it’s that connection that makes an experience special and memorable”, says the former executive at Virgin Group; his business partner, Rachael Moloney, was an editor of Wallpaper City Guides.
The idea was conceived on a trip to Seville a few years ago. “I pulled together a SideStory-like experience with a Getty photographer in Seville and it was an amazing way to see a city,” says Donaldson. “The photographer and I are still in touch today.”
Tours, from £59 ($116) per person, span three hours and take a maximum of six people.
