Funky but chic: Roxy in Kensington Church Street + the Ken Todd connection
//Roxy, 25 Kensington Church Street, 1972. Photo: Masayoshi Sukita//
//Inside Roxy, 1972: Shelley Martin in a flamenco dress designed by Dinah Adams. Photo: Masayoshi Sukita//
//Some of the Roxy crowd photographed around the corner from the shop (from left): The late Granny’s co-owner Marty Breslau, whose ensemble includes a Wonder Workshop top; Louise Doktor; Shelley Martin; John Knight. Photo: Masayoshi Sukita//
I’ve been aware of the existence of the Kensington boutique Roxy for some time, particularly since the store name was used as the title of the feature on London street fashion in a 1972 edition of Japanese magazine An An.
But my curiosity was pricked recently while browsing that same issue of An An which appears in Freddie Hornik’s scrapbook (see last post).
//Juxtaposition of the sleeve of Roxy Music with photographs of Roxy’s window display//
The summer of 1972 witnessed the release of Roxy Music’s eponymously-titled debut LP, and the Japanese magazine sought to make links between the visual retro-futurism of Ferry and co and such stores as Roxy (as well as King’s Road stores Alkasura, Granny Takes A Trip and Let It Rock) and events such as that year’s London Rock & Roll Festival at Wembley Stadium.
This week, with the help of some veterans of the scene, I’ve been able to piece together some of Roxy’s story.
//Ken Todd, centre, aged 18, in 1963 with friends Barry Hall and Brian Hemmings. Photographed by Terrence Spencer for LIFE, the caption reported that the young men sported face powder and spent $15 (equivalent to the average weekly wage of £8) on clothes. Photo: Getty//
//Ken Todd, foreground, with (from left) Mickey Solomons, Mona Solomons, Monica, (behind in hat) Pamla Motown and Pam Todd at the opening of Mr Freedom at 20 Kensington Church Street, December 1970. Photo courtesy Trevor Myles//
According to one-time manager Lionel Avery, Roxy was named and run by Ian Grieg and then taken over by Richard Kettley and Ken Todd, who owned it at the time the An An photographs were taken. Todd was later involved in running restaurants and bars with another fashion character, Dave “Che” Shimeld, whose Che Guevara was around the corner from Roxy in Kensington High Street.
And these days Todd – who was a top mod in the early 60s – is a celebrity LA restaurateur whose wife Lisa Vanderpump appeared in hit TV show The Real Housewives Of Beverley Hills.
All of which is a long distance from the funky-but-chic atmosphere of early 70s London captured by Masayoshi Sukita for the An An report. Lionel Avery managed Roxy for a few months at the beginning of 1974. “That was through the three-day week when we used oil lamps to keep the place lit,” he says. “I had to put on a woman’s coat from the stock to keep warm!”
//Spread from An An, 1972. Courtesy Derek Harris Collection//
//Opening page of An An feature. Courtesy Derek Harris Collection//
Among those featured in An An was Shelley Martin, who worked at Roxy and had also been on the team at Mr Freedom’s Kensington store across the road at 20 Church Street.
//”Shelley wears a shocking pink and black lace saloon-dress made for her by a friend called Mark; Anello and Davide black fish-net tights; pom-pom shoes by City Lights Studio. She uses Biba vermilion colour stick around her eyes and on cheeks; Ponds red flame lipstick on lips. Hair usually cut at Smile.” Martin photographed by John Bishop for West One, December 1973//
By the following year, when she was one of eight “London Belles” selected by Janet Street-Porter for West One (the short-lived giveaway magazine for office workers) Martin was involved with Biba, which of course was then situated just down the road in the vast building once occupied by the Derry & Tom’s department store.
//25 Kensington Church Street today; the facade remains the same//
Roxy was open until the late 80s, continuing to trade in glam women’s wear, by that time designed by the likes of Sheridan Barnett.
Thanks to Lionel Albery, Diana Crawshaw, Lloyd Johnson and Trevor Myles for their assistance in piecing together the Roxy story.