SWINGING LONDON

PHOTOS OF AN EPOCH

Carnaby Street, the most renowned 200 metres of concrete in London, is celebrating this year the start of the fabulous Sixties, the decade that saw the birth of the legendary Swinging London and which turned the little street into an icon for designers and artists alike.

Events that recall those golden days shall take place over the whole year.

That fabulous period starts in1958 when John Stephen opened his first alternative boutique, named “His Clothes”, in Carnaby street, followed straight away by many others:  I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet, Mr. Fish, Cecil Gee, Cleptomania, Mates, Ravel and others who would become a must for trendy young people worldwide.

In 1960, boutiques catering to different “tribes” started to spring up along Carnaby Street, where both hippies and Mods – a tribe of teenagers with a passion for accessorized Lambrettas and followers of the rock band “The Who”, could find everything they needed for creating their coolest look.

The “Carnaby Street: 1960-2010” exhibition will take place, from February 26 to April 10, at number 30.