“It isn’t so much what’s on the table that matters, as what’s on the chairs”

Jonathan Swift, from a letter to his friend Esther Johnson, 1711

//Simon Haynes in his ICA sitting room, 1970. Source publication: Unknown//

Ten Sitting Rooms was the title of a group exhibition curated by Jasia Reichardt at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1970. She organised a budget of £100 for each artist and gave them the brief of making a sitting room in spaces of either 15 x 18 feet or 12 x 24 feet.

I was alerted to the show’s existence by participant Simon Haynes, whose work I have been featuring here. Haynes’ Pop environment, which was produced in collaboration with his wife Sue, developed the themes and materials they used in the boardroom interior and furniture created earlier that year for Trevor Myles’ and Tommy Roberts’ boutique Mr Freedom at 430 King’s Road.

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Tags: Andrew Logan, Bruce Lacey, Carol Joseph, Charles Hayter, Diane Livey, Diane Logan, Dom Sylvester Houédard, Elizabeth Harrison, Gerard Wilson, ICA, Ivor Cutler, Jasia Reichardt, John Furnival, Jonathan Meades, Jonathan Swift, Marlene Raybould, Oxford School of Architecture, Patrick Hughes, Simon Haynes, Sue Haynes, Trevor myles, Vaughan Grylls

//Keith Lucas and Ian Dury onstage at the Kings Road Theatre, November 1974. Photo: Simon Haynes Collection//

As these rarely seen photographs show, when the subject of my last book the late Tommy Roberts took over management of Kilburn & The High Roads he sought to elevate them from the pub-rock scene by upping the visual ante on every front.

//From left: Lucas, Dury, David Rohoman, Charlie Sinclair and Davey Payne//

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Tags: Andy Fail, Chris Spedding, City Lights Studio, Davey Payne, David Rohoman, Glen Matlock, Ian Dury, Keith Lucas, Kilburn & The High Roads, King's Road Theatre, Kosmo Vinyl, Let It Rock, Martin Cole, Mr Freedom, Quorum, SEX, Sex Pistols, Steve Jones, Sue and Simon Haynes, The Rocky Horror Show, The Sweet Shop

Tonight I am hosting an event at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum: an ‘in conversation’ with Boy George about the importance and influence of popular culture’s greatest manipulator of visual identity, David Bowie.

//George O'Dowd overlooked by Big Brother in his room at a squatted house in Carburton Street, central London, 1978.//

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Tags: Boy George, City Lights Studio, David Bowie, Jimmy King, Kate Simon, Mick Rock, Philip Sallon, Pin Ups, Sue Clowes, Terry O'Neill, The Foundry, V&A, William Burroughs

//Swingtag, printed card, 4" x 2", 1972//

Artist/designer Simon Haynes has allowed me access to some of the treasures in his archive. Over the next few weeks I’ll be dipping into it and presenting a selection of artworks, display items, stage sets and graphics he has created over the years.

//Design on silk swatch for fabric for shop interior fittings, 1972//

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Tags: City Lights Studio, Covent Garden, Derek Morton, John Yong, Kilburn & The High Roads, Lorraine Piggott, Malcolm "Percy" Raines, Nicky Rea, Practical Styling, Ronnie Melia, Sharon Horsley, Simon Haynes, Sue Haynes, Willy Daly

//Harold Harris with 10ft tall display item designed by Rod Stokes, Mr Freedom, 1971. Photo courtesy Andrew Greaves.//

Something of a legend in 70s British boutique circles, here is Harold The Ted in all his glory accompanying one of the extravagant display items at Mr Freedom in Kensington Church Street: a 10 foot tall cut-out representation of a glowering boy scout made by Electric Colour Company’s Rod Stokes.

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Tags: David Hockney, Gene Krell, Geoff Edwards, Harold Harris, Harold The Ted, Jill St John, Johnny Moke, Jon Wealleans, Les Coleman, Let It Rock, Mediocre Murals, Rod Stokes, Simon Haynes, Stan Hesketh, Sue Thompson, Trevor myles

//Interior, 430 King's Road, Chelsea, May 1971. Note coconut matting, shack-style dressing room doors, trompe de l'oeil gate painted on stockroom door... and fake tiger. Photography: David Parkinson.//

I first wrote about Electric Colour Company – the design studio formed in the East End by four fine art students in the late 60s – in The Look and then in more detail here.

//Amid the singlets, printed sweatshirts and appliqued denim, a bamboo cage housed birds of paradise, suspended from the matting covered ceiling.//

In my view, ECC deserves much greater recognition for executing some very clever work in the field of retail design and interiors in the period 1969-1973.

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Tags: Andrew Greaves, Blueberry Hill, City Lights Studio, Electric Colour Company, Let It Rock, Paradise Garage, Seditionaries, SEX, Time Out, Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, Trevor myles, Worlds End

Here’s another gem from Herb Schmitz’s photographic goldmine: model Ika Hindley at west London restaurant Julie’s in an early 70s shoot for Dutch agency Kippa.

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Tags: C20 Vintage, City Lights Studio, Deborah Woolf, Dominic Lutyens, Herb Schmitz, Ika Hindley, Kirsty Hislop, Laura Noble, Liz Eggleston, Maudie Adams, Nicky Samuel, Norman Parkinson, Sacha, Vogue

Proud to have known you Tommy. Writing the Mr Freedom book was an honour,  the most pleasurable experience of my career.

All photos: Brian Aris, 1986.

Tags: Brian Aris

Signed copies from a selection of my work are now available from this site – click on the button in the right-hand column or select SHOP from the menu at the top of the page.

At the moment you can buy:

• Mr Freedom – Tommy Roberts: British Design Hero

• Reasons To Be Cheerful: The Life & Work Of Barney Bubbles

• In Their Own Write: Adventures In The Music Press (now out of print)

• The Look Of London (the new map collaboration with Herb Lester Associates)

From time to time I’ll also be making available signed copies of other out of print work, including my book with Goldie, Nine Lives (£9 inc P+P), and the increasingly rare second edition of The Look Adventures In Rock & Pop Fashion (£45 inc P+P).

Inquire here about these titles and for purchases outside the UK.

TAGS: None

//1975: Models Kathy + Jeremy in Artist tees at a New York fashion show.//

//2012: One of Motown's two new versions.//

Designer Pamla Motown – cherished for her contributions to 70s fashion with a run of sensational designs for Mr Freedom and under her own labels – is back with a new version of her graphic “Artist” T-shirt.

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Tags: Duggie Fields, Jim O'Connor, Pamla Motown, Richard Gillette, Roy Lichtenstein