//George Hardie’s design for card announcing the opening of Universal Witness at 167 Fulham Road on November 17 1970//

Here’s another treasure from the trove of Design magazines given to me by the designer Paul Walters; the invitation for the opening of Paul Reeves’ west London boutique Universal Witness in November 1970.

//As the invite appeared – top right on the left hand page – in a spread on a graphic design exhibition in Design, June 1971//

//Front cover, Design, June 1971//

The invite was produced by one of the greats of graphic design, George Hardie, then with the prominent studio Nicholas Thirkell Associates. Hardie was already making his name, having created the sleeve for Led Zeppelin’s debut album, and his distinctive graphic art would go on to elevate releases by such acts as Pink Floyd (including the Dark Side of the Moon cover) and Paul McCartney’s Wings.

I interviewed Hardie for my Tommy Roberts book Mr Freedom; he also provided brilliant visuals for Roberts’ wild 1971 restaurant Mr Feed’Em.

//Poster for Universal Witness, 1970//

The Universal Witness invite appeared in the illustration section of Design‘s survey Graphic Design Britain, published to coincide with an exhibition of the same name at De La Rue House in London’s Regent Street.

The Led Zeppelin connection to Hardie was strong. Reeves has been a close friend of the group’s leader Jimmy Page since 1966; they share an interest in, and expertise of, the British arts & craft movement, and Reeves is a globally recognised dealer and authority on the subject.

//Acclaim for Universal Witness as featured in the section on Paul Reeves in my 2006 book The Look//

Reeves launched Universal Witness having dressed rock stars from Page to Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix with his label Sam Pig In Love and then the wholesaler Alkasura (which became a notable King’s Road store operated by his partner John Lloyd).

//From The Look//

Among Universal Witness customers was David Bowie, who Reeves had known since they were teenagers growing up in Bromley, south of London; Bowie wore a velvet UW bippity-boppity hat with his Hunky Dory look for promotional photographs in the period.

//From The Look; Daily Mirror article on Angie and David Bowie with him in the UW hat//

I interviewed Paul in 2005 for the second edition of my music fashion book The Look; we remain firm friends. He’s a beautiful bloke and in my opinion one of British design’s national treasures with an unimpeachable taste-making pedigree.

You can pick up copies of The Look in various places, including abebooks.

Read the story of George Hardie’s creation of the Led Zeppelin 1 sleeve here.

Tags: Alkasura, Design, George Hardie, Jimi Hendrix, John Lloyd, Keith Richards, Led Zeppelin, Mr Feed'Em, Paul McCartney, Paul Reeves, Paul Walters, Pink Floyd, Universal Witness, Wings