//The post featured a grab of Pennie Smith’s portrait for Nick Kent’s The Politics Of Flash article in an April 1974 issue of the NME//

Ten years ago I posted this on The Look blog upon returning home from a gathering at London gallery Chelsea Space.

The venue was fitting; Chelsea Space is within the grounds of Chelsea College of Arts which was in Manresa Street off the King’s Road until a few years back. This was among the arts institutions attended by the student painter Malcolm Edwards in and around London in the 1960s.

Our friend the writer Chris Salewicz broke the news; among the company was guitarist Mick Jones, whose life, like many of us, had been improved by connection with McLaren.

Naturally, Jones expressed sorrow, and his immediate response to the news of McLaren’s passing struck me hard. ‘We’ll never hear Malcolm’s latest thoughts again,’ said Jones. ‘All those brilliant, wild ideas which seemed to pour out of him on a daily basis, that’s over. And that’s really sad.’

Tags: Chelsea Space, Chris Salewicz, Mick Jones

I am the subject of the My Design London page in today’s edition of the capital’s Evening Standard newspaper.

In Liz Hoggard’s piece, I talk about some of the places which help make this the greatest city in the world, from our local patisserie WA Cafe and picture framers For Art’s Sake to Mayfair jewellers/art space Belmacz, Hackney Road’s Two Columbia Road and M. Goldstein and the galleries Richard Saltoun and Chelsea Space.

Copies of the Standard are available free to commuters on Greater London’s transport system. The piece will be posted on the Standard’s site soon.

Tags: Belmacz, Chelsea Arts Club, Chelsea Space, Evening Standard, For Art's Sake, Liz Hoggard, M. Goldstein, My Design London, Richard Saltoun, Two Columbia Road, WA Cafe

//Phil Lynott, styling Sheila Rock, photography Mick Rock, Club International, October 1973//

//The Gentlemen At Number Ten, styling Sheila Rock, photography David Parkinson, Club International, December 1973//

To celebrate the opening next week of a new exhibition of work by photographer Sheila Rock, here is a selection of her early fashion styling.

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Tags: Bush Hollyhead, Chelsea Space, Club International, Hipgnosis, Humphrey Lyttleton, Jordan Mooney, Mick Farren, Mick Rock, Nick Logan, Phil Lynott, Quentin Crisp, Sheila Rock, Steve Ridgeway, Terry Pastor, The Face, Thin Lizzy, Tony Power

The new issue of The Word magazine includes a photo-spread on the exhibition Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter.

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Tags: Chelsea Space, Danny Baker, Don Grant, John Lydon, Kenny macDonald, Kensington & Chelsea Today, Kosmo Vinyl, Marx, Worlds End, Wreckless Eric

Album sleeves, photography, magazines and a variety of press cuttings and ephemera underline the widespread recognition for Lloyd Johnson’s designs over the decades. Lloyd paid particular attention to them in the assemblage of the contents of the table-top vitrines and a wall collage on the fifth day of the exhibition installation just before the weekend.

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Tags: Chelsea Space, Lois Gabrin

Included in the Lloyd Johnson show are photographs of performers wearing Johnson’s apparel – above is a 1979 shot of Iggy Pop in one of the label’s jackets paired with a Johnson’s Bluebeat hat (if memory serves, Glen Matlock, who was working with Pop at the time on his album New Values, told me that Iggy half-inched it from him).

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Tags: 1979, Chelsea Space, Glen Matlock, Iggy Pop, Johnson & Johnson, Lois Gabrin, New Values, Process

Now the exhibition is getting to the nitty-gritty; yesterday Lloyd paid particular attention to the area dedicated to his businesses Cockell & Johnson and Johnson & Johnson, which produced peacock dandy and pop art fashion between 1968 and 1974 in Kensington  Market. Above are the print shirts which will be displayed, below some of the detail – on the left a stockinged leg print designed by Jane Wentworth (then Wealleans), who has contributed to my Tommy Roberts book.

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Tags: Chelsea Space, Debra Welch, Down By Law, Faith, George Michael, Jabne Wealleans, Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter, Tom Waits

//Lloyd takes a break to chat to (from left): Chelsea Space director Donald Smith, Eve Ferrett + Mark Summerfield.//

Among friends dropping in at Chelsea Space to check out the Lloyd Johnson show installation yesterday were performer Eve Ferrett and her other half Mark Summerfield.

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Tags: Chelsea Space, Donald Smith, Eve Ferrett, Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter, Mark Summerfield

The installation of the the Lloyd Johnson exhibition got off to a flying start yesterday.

The key piece – a reconstruction of the 80s frontage of Johnson’s Kensington Market boutique – was made and put in place by the crack team headed by Rod Holt at Mojo Creative Productions.

“I had the three pieces of glass signage in storage,” says Johnson. “I gave those to Rod with a photograph from back in the day and he and his guys pulled off a major triumph by putting it together.”

Original fascia: Johnny "Mono" Graham outside Johnson's Kensington Market 1980s. Photographer unknown.

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Tags: Chelsea Space, Fortnum & Mason's, Irvine Sellars, Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter, Lois Gabrin, Mojo Creative, Peter Boutwood, Rod Holt

Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter – the exhibition about one of the greatest contributors to British street fashion and visual culture of recent times – is at London gallery Chelsea Space in the New Year, from January 24 to March 3.

The show will be centred on Johnson’s archive of garments, artwork, fabrics, ephemera and personal effects, augmented by contributions from customers and collectors from Tokyo to Sydney to LA.

For a taster here’s a trio of clips featuring Johnson’s designs:

Tom Waits’ boots (from 2.50):

Iggy’s jacket on The Tube:

George Michael’s jacket + boots:

More info on Lloyd Johnson The Modern Outfitter here.

Tags: Chelsea Space, George Michael, Iggy Pop, Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter, Tom Waits