1960’s London & The Swinging Sixties

They say every city has its decade and London was IT for the 60’s. The swinging sixties as it was known gave birth to a flower power generation and space age fashion. One of the streets that flourished and mirrored its rise to fame in the 1960’s was Carnaby Street. Menswear had stagnated since the 1940’s with traditional menswear chains Burton offering American style drape suits and the Italian look courtesy of a full time Roman tailor.

However, the Mods were arriving. The emancipation of youth with a new disposable income, eager to distinguish themselves between their old fashioned parents.

The arrival of John Stephen (who launch HIS Clothes) on Carnaby Street in the late fifties could not be underestimated. His business model became the menswear boutique that was copied across London, eventually across London, eventually across the country, and its style reflected the desire of its clients – to look ultra-sharp at all times.

Whilst the early 60’s saw a rise to the continental cut with sharp, thin lapels, teaming them with narrow ties and shoes, then bum freezer jackets (ideal for riding Vespa’s) then brightly coloured shirts, exotic fabrics and vivid printed ties.

During the mid to late 60’s the likes of Michael Fish, previously a floor walker and Turnbull & Asser opened Mr Fish. His signature was brightly coloured, beautifully tailored suits for the London dandy. Adorned with vivid printed ties, ruffle fronted silk shirts trimmed with lace and kaftans for men.

There was a new kind of dressing, combining the craftsmanship of traditional London tailoring with ethnic references from the near and middle east, the hippies and the regency dandy. Lord Snowden, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones all embraced this technicolor revolution.

Above: 1969 The infamous tunic dress worn by Mick Jagger at Hyde Park The Space Race between the soviet union and the US entered into pop culture.

This inspired many designers like Pierre Cardin and Andre Courreges. Courreges had fervent views and steered womenswear into his ideologies. He believed that it was not rational for women to exist only in dresses and high heels. He advocated pants (or tights) and flat shoes. His aesthetic mirrored the linear forms so associated with technology, helping to define our understanding of a futuristic look.