I have known the Arts & Crafts connoisseur, collector and dealer Paul Reeves since the early Noughties when I approached him for the second edition of my fashion x music book The Look; Paul’s previous career as a designer took in such important 60s and 70s labels and boutiques as Sam Pig In Love, Alkasura and The Universal Witness.

From the off we got on like a house on fire and became firm friends; he was a major contributor to my Tommy Roberts book and the ever-generous Paul has often hosted Caz and I at his wonderful Wiltshire farmhouse.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alkasura, Claire de Rouen, Jermaine Gallacher, Jon Wealleans, Led Zeppelin, Oskar Proctor, Paul Reeves, Peter Grant, Sam Pig In Love, The Universal Witness, TON

//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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

//Jean Shrimpton in Mr Freedom Minnie Mouse top, Hans Feurer, Fancy Dressing, Nova, December 1970, with the original design on tracing paper by Refna. No reproduction without permission//

Exciting news: Elizabeth Hamey, who signs her work ‘Refna’, has granted me access to her amazing archive of work at the cross-hatches of art, design and fashion in the 1960s and 70s.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Adrian Mann, Alkasura, Elizabeth Hamey, Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, English Boy, Goofy, Hans Feurer, Jean Shrimpton, Jimmy Page, John Lloyd, Kleptomania, Mick Jagger, Mick Rock, Mickey Mouse, Ossie Clark, Paul Reeves, Refna, Richard Burton, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, The Universal Witness, The Venus Of Urbino, The Yardbirds, Titian, Trevor myles, Twen, Walt Disney Co

//Alkasura staff inside 304 King’s Road. Photographer: Unknown. Paul Gorman Archive. No reproduction without permission//

This is the first time these photographs – taken inside London’s legendary glam boutique Alkasura – have been published since they appeared in a Japanese fashion magazine in 1970.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alkasura, An An, Andy Warhol's Pork, Chelita Secunda, John Lloyd, Marc Bolan, Masayoshi Sukita, Ossie Clark, Paul Cook, Paul Reeves, Rod Stewart, Sex Pistols, Suzy Menkes, The Universal Witness, Todd Rundgren, Trevor myles, Vivienne Westwood

This is the front of the jacket of my new book Mr Freedom – Tommy Roberts: British Design Hero.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: City Lights Studio, Eve Ferrett, Jimi Hendrix, Kleptomania, Mark Summerfield, Paul Jones, Paul Reeves, Paul Smith, Practical Styling