When innovatory British men’s magazine Club International was launched in 1972, editor Tony Power and art director Steve Ridgeway assembled a diverse pool of contributors, including jazzer, art critic and cultural commentator George Melly, the Stately Homo Quentin Crisp, Rocky Horror Show founder Richard O’Brien, former White Panther Mick Farren, photographers David Parkinson, Mick Rock and Karl Stoecker, illustrators Bush Hollyhead and Brian Grimwood and the design studio Hipgnosis.

//Casual trousers £9.50 from Mr Freedom; satin waistcoat £12 from Chris at Hidegrade; Bobbysoxer Boots £12.75 by Daisy Roots from Way In. From Club International Vol 1 No 3, 1972//

//Prince of Wales Oxford bags £4.95 from Take 6; Hollywood Funsters £12.25 by Daisy Roots from Way In. From Club International Vol 1 No 3, 1972//

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Tags: A Nice Pair, Antiquarius, Aubrey "Po" POwell, Club International, Daisy Roots, Daniel hechter, George Melly, Hipgnosis, Karl Stoecker, Mick Rock, Mr Freedom, Peter Frampton, Pink Floyd, Quentin Crisp, Quincy, Somethin's Happening, Steve Ridgeway, Stian Brekke, Storm Thorgesen, Take 6, The Birdcage, The Village Gate, Tony Power, Way In

//Detail: Etching in steel toe-cap for the 80s collection. This image © Paul Gorman Archive. No reproduction without permission//

On the collapse of their design partnership in October 1983 after showcasing of the collection Worlds End 1984 in Paris and London, Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood went their separate ways.

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Tags: Amanda Grieve, Andrea Linz, Blonde Ambition, Dinkie Heel, Fans, Hypnos, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Madam Butterfly, Madonna, Mr Freedom, Paradise Garage, Robert Erdman, Simon Withers, Susie Bick, Trevor myles, Vivienne Westwood, Witches, Worlds End 1984

//Audrey Watson’s great grand-neice Carlie models the spot-print two-piece bought in 1971 from Mr Freedom’s branch at 20 Kensington Church Street in west London. All photos: Helen Smith//

//Sooty & Sweep print Mr Freedom shirt also acquired by Watson on one of her shopping trips to London in the early 70s//

The emergence of good condition Mr Freedom designs with strong provenance is rare these days, so I’m delighted to showcase these unusual and original garments from the seminal early 70s London boutique operated by Trevor Myles, John Paul and Tommy Roberts.

They were acquired in the early 70s from the second Mr Freedom outlet in Kensington by the ultra-stylish British collector Audrey Watson, now 87 and a lifelong devotee of quirky and interesting clothing who has reluctantly begun the process of divesting herself of her fashion archive.

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Tags: Audrey Watson, Bob Hall, Diana Crawshaw, Freddie Laughton, Helen Smith, John Paul, Look-in, Mr Freedom, Trevor myles

“It was a spectacular coup de théâtre – Kansai’s models came on moving. They leapt, ran, whirled like dervishes, danced, flung out their arms so that the brilliant colours meshed and merged into a kaleidoscopic cartoon of colour. Kansai himself, black-clothed and masked, moved across the stage like a Samurai warrior, tearing off layers and layers of clothes, stripping down the beautiful, pyramidal outer garments, right down to the vests and body paint. Kansai’s clothes épatent les couturiers.”

Harpers & Queen, July 1971

As fuzzy as they are, the two precious video clips at the end of this post convey the game-changing nature of  Kansai Yamamoto’s theatrical introduction of avant-garde Japanese fashion design to these shores at the dawn of the 70s.

They also reveal the extent to which the late David Bowie subsequently drew on Yamamoto’s flamboyance and daring when presenting Ziggy Stardust on stage.

Several of the designs were worn by Bowie in performance during live promotion, in particular of the Aladdin Sane album, and he also adopted the sleight-of-hand layered costume reveals, the emphatic postures of the models and even the flame-red hair colouring as seen on the huge wig worn in the first excerpt below.

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Tags: Aladdin Sane, Boston 151, British Vogue, Chris Snow, Diana Crawshaw, Joe Strummer, John Paul, Kansai Yamamoto, Kate Moss, Michael Chow, Mr Freedom, Nick Knight, Oooh Fashion!, Paradise Garage, Sex Pistols, Showstudio, Terence Donovan, The Great Gear Trading Company, The Strand, Tom Salter, Tommy Roberts, Trevor myles, Ziggy Stardust

“Anyone who has wondered how the Britain of utility furniture and wartime rationing managed to evolve into Cool Britannia will find this a remarkable book.”

Elizabeth Guffey, State University of New York at Purchase

My case study Tommy Roberts: From Kleptomania To Two Columbia Road forms a chapter in new book British Design: Tradition And Modernity After 1948, which is published by Bloomsbury Academic tomorrow (October 22).

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Tags: Bernat Klein, British Design: Tradition And Modernity After 1948, Cheryl Buckley, City Lights Studio, Fiona Andersen, Henry Rothschild, Janine Barker, Jon Wealleans, Kleptomania, Mr Freedom, Owen Hatherley, Practical Styling, Primavera, Thomas Heatherwick, TomTom, Two Columbia Road

Electric Colour Company were intent on enlivening the visual landscape of grey London town by desecrating polite notions of decor and good taste

My feature on the pioneering but sorely undervalued design studio Electric Colour Company appears in the current issue of UK GQ Style.

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Tags: Blueberry Hill, City Lights Studio, David Parkinson, Dinah Adams, E-Type Jaguar, Electric Colour Company, Ford Fairlane 500, GQ Style, Mr Freedom, Mustang Pony, Paradise Garage, Piper Cherokee Arrow

//The four pairs of boots are classic examples of early 70s rock n roll style//

These rare and unusual boots are thought to have once belonged to Elton John; the current owner was told this when he acquired them.

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Tags: Annie Liebowitz, Caribou, Cecil Beaton, Elton John, Fashion An Anthology, Freddie Hornik, Gohil, Granny Takes A trip, Jim, Jim O'Connor, Joe Cocker, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Mr Freedom, Rolling Stone, V&A, Woodstock

/Left: Andrew Greaves of Electric Colour Company in the back of Paradise Garage, May 1971. Right: Vivienne Westwood in the back of Let It Rock, January 1972. Photos: David Parkinson//

Preparation for my paper at Ben Kelly’s interior design symposium Dead Or Alive has coincided with the refurbishment of the Worlds End shop at 430 King’s Road in Chelsea.

The address is the subject of my talk; I’ll be detailing the history of 430 and how and why it was an important social and cultural locus over a number of decades.

//Back wall of 430 King’s Road on the opening of Mr Freedom, September 1969. Interior: Electric Colour Company. Photo: David Parkinson//

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Tags: Andrew Greaves, Ben Kelly, Croydon Art School, Electric Colour Company, Frederick Freed, GQ Style, ICA, Let It Rock, Mr Freedom, Paradise Garage, Screaming Lord Sutch, Vivienne Westwood

//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).

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Tags: American John, An An, Anella and Davide, Biba, City Lights Studio, Dave "Che" Shimeld, Derek Harris, Freddie Hornik, Granny Takes A trip, Janet Street-Porter, John Bishop, John Knight, Ken Todd, Kensington Church Street, Let It Rock, Louise Doktor, Marty Breslau, Masayoshi Sukita, Mr Freedom, Roxy, Roxy Music, Shelley Martin, Sheridan Barnett, Trevor myles, West One

//Portfolio shot of the newly completed Seditionaries, 430 King’s Road, London SW10,  December 1976.
(c) Ben Kelly//

Interior Design: Dead Or Alive is the title of the symposium being organised by the prominent British designer Ben Kelly at London’s Institute Of Contemporary Arts on March 14.

I am a contributing speaker alongside writer/curator Michael Bracewell, designers Fred Deakin, Ed Barber & Jay Osgerby and Peter Saville, artists Lucy McKenzie and Bridget Smith and David Toop of the London College Of Communications and Tate Britain’s Andrew Wilson.

“We’re going to be taking stock of the ways in which iconic interiors affect and influence the direction of popular culture and the wider world,” says Kelly, who is putting the event together in his capacity as professor of interior design and spatial studies at the University of the Arts London.

//Portfolio shot of the freshly installed Seditionaries name plaque, December 1976. (c) Ben Kelly//

Among Kelly’s designs was the November 1976 transformation of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s shop Sex at 430 King’s Road into Seditionaries. Knowing that I have researched and produced a substantial document on the history of 430 King’s Road, Kelly has asked me to address this little space with a big impact in terms of its importance as a cultural hub and incubator of often radical ideas.

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Tags: Alfred Withers, Andrew Wilson, Bridget Smith, David Toop, Ed Barber, Fred Deakin, Hung On You, ICA, Ida Docker, Jay Osgerby, Lucy McKenzie, Michael Bracewell, Michael Roberts, Mr Freedom, Paradise Garage, Peter Saville, Peter Schlesinger, Seditionaries, Sukita Matayoshi, The Hacienda, Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, Vivienne Westwood