The Emporium, the London clothing outlet which inaugurated London’s vintage fashion business, is to close after 27 years.

As London’s independent retail fashion scene took the swan-dive from which it never recovered in the mid-80s, so Jon Hale and Jacki Cook’s shop in Greenwich, south-east London, provided a haven of 20th Century style, handpicked with consummate taste from their carefully accumulated archive of thousands of garments from the 30s to the 70s.

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Tags: Chris Brick, Chris Sullivan, Dagenham Girls, Greenwich, Jacki Cook, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jon Hale, Mission Impossible, Munich, Paul Weller, Phil Dirtbox, The Emporium

//Laurie Cunningham in bespoke suit and tie of his own design aged 17, 1973. Photo courtesy Dermot Kavanagh//

Journalist Dermot Kavanagh’s project to celebrate the life and achievements of the late soul boy footballer Laurie Cunningham moves apace; if you have the opportunity, listen to Kavanagh talking to BBC London 94.9’s Robert Elms today.
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Tags: Dermot Kavanagh, Elthorne Estate, Laurie Cunningham, Real Madrid, Robert Elms, Sunday Times Magazine, Tony Nwachukwu, Yemisi Blake

Here’s a selection of photographs from the family photo album of Johnny Deluxe, one of my favourite unpindownable Londoners. Deluxe is an artist, clothes-maker, performer, raconteur and all-round individualist.

I’ll let him tell the story behind each.

This was taken in March or April 1978. I was wearing a Seditionaries Destroy t-shirt and Boy zip trousers, not quite bondage ones, just zips on the pockets, but super drainpipe in bright canvas. I was just about to go to France and be chased by French teddy boys. I got my hair cut at Alphonso’s in Oxford Road, Reading, an old boy’s barber where I asked for an “Elvis” and then hacked into it at home (Alphonso was too old for the modern stuff).

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Tags: Alice Clowes, Boy, Cowboys, Destroy, Johnny Deluxe, Jordan, Reading, Seditionaries, Vivienne Westwood

I am now starting work on a new book.

Legacy: The Story Of The Face is to be published by Thames & Hudson in 2015 and has the support and involvement of Nick Logan, the owner and founder of what became one of the most important and influential publications of recent times.

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Tags: Bauer, Emap, New York, Nick Logan, Playbopy, Rolling Stone, Saturday Review, Sunday Times Colour Supplement, Thames & Hudson, Twen

//Trevor Myles, Mustang and 430 King's Road, late summer 1971. Photo: Michael Roberts//

//From Michael Roberts' article Men & Their Machines, Club, October 1971//

Trevor Myles’ decision to incorporate a flocked and tiger-striped 1966 Ford Mustang as part of his retail space Paradise Garage naturally attracted a lot of attention during the brief existence of this unusual fashion outlet at 430 King’s Road in Chelsea’s World’s End in 1971.

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Tags: Andrew Greaves, City Lights Studio, Club, David Smith, Design, Electric Colour Company, Hot Car, Jeffrey Pine, Paradise Garage, Rod Stokes, Trevor myles

Ssion were great at Birthdays last night: exciting and euphoric. Been smiling ever since.

Visit the Ssion site.

Tags: Birthdays, Cody Critcheloe, Ssion

I Always Remember A Face, Especially When I’ve Sat On It is the arresting title of a great 14-track vinyl-only compilation from artist of the fantastical,  Maurizio Cattelan.

This is the tracklisting:
A Side
1 Bernard Herrmann – Brave New World (Excerpt)
2 The Cheers – Black Denim Trousers & Motorcycle Boots
3 Pierre Schaeffer – Etude Aux Chemins De Fer (Excerpt)
4 Judy Garland – The Trolley Song
5 Coldcut – Stop This Crazy Thing (Excerpt)
6 Malcolm McLaren – Miss Belle
7 Gene Vincent  – Jezebel

B Side
1 Les Paul & Mary Ford  – Bye Bye Blues
2 Hoosier Hot Shots – I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones
3 The Dorsey Brothers  – Lullaby Of Broadway
4 F.T. Martinetti & A.Guintini – Sintesi Musicali Furutiste (Excerpt)
5 Malcolm McLaren  – Ride A Fashion Horse Pt.2
6 Cornelius – Fantasma
7 Ozzie Nelson And His Orchestra  – Dream A Little Dream Of Me

//From Maurizio Cattelan, Fondation Beyeler, Basel, June 8 - Oct 6//

The LP – produced under the auspices of his online magazine Toilet Paper, marks Cattelan’s current show at Basel’s Fondation Beyeler. See here.

A collaboration with The Vinyl Factory, I Always Remember A Face, Especially When I’ve Sat On It has been produced in a limited edition of 1,000 copies and is available here.

Read Toilet Paper here.

Listen to the comp here:

Tags: A Guintini, Barnard herrmann, Basel, Coldcut, Cornelius, Dorsey Brothers, Fondation Beyeler, FT Martinetti, Gene Vincent, Hoosier Hot Shots, I Always Remember A Face Especially When I’ve Sat On It, Judy Garland, Les Paul, Mary Ford, Maurizio Cattelan, Ozzie Nelson, Pierre Schaeffer, The Cheers, The Vinyl Factory

Directed by Bram Van Splunteren, via openculture.com

Tags: Bram Van Splunteren, Iggy Pop, Losaida, Lower East Side, openculture.com

//"Sunglasses Ron" Fahey, top right, leads the applause onstage at the Rainbow, Finsbury Park, London, spring 1977. Photo: Neal Purvis//

The photograph above – taken by a friend, Neal Purvis – captures one of the leading lights of London’s Ted scene at the height of his rabble-rousing powers.

Here is “Sunglasses Ron” Fahey taking to the stage of north London venue The Rainbow during The Sun Sound Show, which ran on the nights of April 30 and May 1 1977 and featured rockabilly giants Charlie Feathers, Buddy Knox, Jack Scott and Warren Smith.

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Tags: Buddy Knox, Charlie Feathers, Danny Baker, jack Scott, Janet Street-Porter, Neal Purvis, Sun Records, Sunglasses Ron Fahey, The Clash, Twentieth Century Box, Ubangi Stomp, Warren Smith

//Dany Bubbles, 1963-66. Pencil and acrylic, 29" x 20" (framed)//

I sourced one of the paintings which is in More Than Fair, the exhibition of Ian Dury’s artworks which opens at his alma mater, London’s Royal College of Art, next month.

Dury gave the ultra-Pop Dany Bubbles to his friend and designer Barney Bubbles in the late 70s during their spell of collaboration which resulted in a series of triumphs: single sleeves such as Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, What A Waste and Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, the 28 wallpaper covers of the album Do It Yourself, the Blockhead logo…

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Tags: Blockhead logo, Do It Yourself, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Ian Dury, Jemima Dury, Jules Balme, Kosmo Vinyl, London Life, Royal College Of Art, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Tony Bennett, What A Waste, Will Birch