Carnaby Street is a
pedestrianised
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...
shopping street in
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develo ...
in the
City of Westminster, Central
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Close to
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...
and
Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion
boutiques.
Streets crossing, or meeting with, Carnaby Street are, from south to north,
Beak Street,
Broadwick Street, Kingly Court,
Ganton Street, Marlborough Court, Lowndes Court, Fouberts Place, Little Marlborough Street and
Great Marlborough Street
Great Marlborough Street is a thoroughfare in Soho, Central London. It runs east of Regent Street past Carnaby Street towards Noel Street.
Originally part of the Millfield estate south of Tyburn Road (now Oxford Street), the street was named ...
. The nearest
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The ...
station is
Oxford Circus.
History
Carnaby Street derives its name from Karnaby House, which was built in 1683 to the east. The origin of the name is unknown. The street was probably laid out in 1685 or 1686. First appearing in the ratebooks in 1687, it was almost completely built up by 1690 with small houses. A market was developed in the 1820s. In his novel, ''
Sybil'' (1845),
Benjamin Disraeli refers to "a carcase-butcher famous in Carnaby-market".
This area is notable for a
cholera outbreak in 1854 leading to an early application of fundamental
epidemiological
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
principles to resolve the crisis.
John Snow, the physician who recognised the cases were concentrated near a pump on Broad Street communicated the finding on a topographical display. It led to the pump being locked and the reduction in cases of cholera was rapid.
20th century
In 1934,
Amy Ashwood Garvey and
Sam Manning opened the
Florence Mills
Florence Mills (born Florence Winfrey; January 25, 1896 – November 1, 1927), billed as the "Queen of Happiness", was an American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian.
Life and career
Florence Mills (Florence Winfrey) was born a daughter of for ...
Social Club at
number 50, a
jazz club
A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is licens ...
that became a gathering place for supporters of
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
.
Black History in Westminster
', City of Westminster
Carnaby Street in the early 1950s was a shabby Soho backstreet consisting of "rag trade sweat shops, locksmiths and tailors, and a Central Electricity Board depot practically took up one side of the street." The genesis of Carnaby Street as a global fashion destination began with Bill 'Vince' Green, a male physique photographer. In 1954 he opened opened a small clothing boutique 'Vince' in adjoining Newburgh Street, to capitalise of the homosexual body-building community that congregated around the Marshall Street baths. Those who modelled for the Vince catalogue and advertisements, and boosted its popularity, were the then barely-known
Sean Connery and the hugely popular handsome boxer
Billy Walker.To further attract custom, Green hired pretty young men as sales assistants, one of whom was the Glasgow-born
John Stephen
John Stephen (28 August 1934 – 1 February 2004), dubbed by the media "The £1m Mod" and "The King Of Carnaby Street", was one of the most important fashion figures of the 1960s.
Stephen was the first individual to identify and sell to the yo ...
, later to be known as 'The King Of Carnaby Street'.
Stephen opened the boutique His Clothes, in 1957 after his shop in
Beak Street burned down. As
Mary Quant
Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...
later stated of Stephen, "He made Carnaby Street. He was Carnaby Street. He invented a look for young men which was wildly exuberant, dashing and fun." According to James Gardiner, who at one stage made ties for the Vince boutique, at this period Carnaby Street "was essentially a gay thing...The clothes, including pink shirts and skin-tight white pants, were designed to appeal to gay men, but soon went mainstream."
Stephen was followed by other men's fashion retailers, including Gear,
Mates
Mates is an English surname, and may refer to:
* Mates (born 1964), British newsreader and journalist
* Michael Mates (born 1934), British politician
* Frederick S. Mates, founded the Mates Investment Fund in 1967 that crashed in the bear market ...
and Ravel. In 1966, Harry Fox and
Henry Moss opened the first women's fashion boutique,
Lady Jane, and later rented Foubert's Place to
I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet, their first outlet in the area. Round the corner in
Kingly Street, Tommy Roberts opened his gift shop, Kleptomania. He moved to Carnaby Street in 1967 and went on to make fame in the
King's Road
King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...
, Chelsea, with his Mr Freedom shop.
By the 1960s, Carnaby Street was popular with followers of the
mod and
hippie styles. Many independent fashion designers, such as
Mary Quant
Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...
,
Marion Foale
Marion A Foale (born 13 March 1939 in Edmonton, London) is an English artist and fashion designer. With Sally Tuffin, she formed one half of the design team behind the 1960s fashion label Foale and Tuffin.
Born in London, Foale attended Ilford ...
and
, Lord John,
Merc, Take Six, and Irvine Sellars, had premises in the street, and various underground music bars, such as the Roaring Twenties, opened in the surrounding streets. Bands such as the
Small Faces
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
,
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
and
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
appeared in the area, to work (at the legendary
Marquee Club
The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed wh ...
round the corner in
Wardour Street
Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century the street became a ...
), to shop, and to socialise, so it became one of the coolest destinations associated with 1960s
Swinging London.
The first
Cranks restaurant was opened at 22 Carnaby Street in 1961 by David and Kay Canter and Daphne Swann. Cranks grew into a chain and has been seen as a major factor in the spread of
vegetarianism in recent decades
The Carnaby Street contingent of Swinging London stormed into North American and international awareness with the 15 April 1966 publication of
''Time'' magazine's
cover story
Cover story or Cover Story may refer to:
* A magazine or newspaper article whose subject appears on that issue's front cover, and may be profiled in depth.
* A fictitious explanation intended to hide one's real motive; see disinformation, cover-u ...
that extolled this street's role:
In October 1973, the
Greater London Council pedestrianised the street. Vehicular access is restricted between 11 am and 8 pm. A comparison of pedestrian traffic before and after the change revealed that there had been a 30% increase in the number of pedestrians entering the area. In early 2010, a campaign was commenced for the pedestrianisation in the adjacent area of
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develo ...
.
Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...
erected two
green plaques, one at 1 Carnaby Street, dedicated to fashion entrepreneur
John Stephen
John Stephen (28 August 1934 – 1 February 2004), dubbed by the media "The £1m Mod" and "The King Of Carnaby Street", was one of the most important fashion figures of the 1960s.
Stephen was the first individual to identify and sell to the yo ...
, who began the Mod fashion revolution, and another at 52/55 Carnaby Street, dedicated to the
Mod pop group the Small Faces and their manager,
Don Arden
Don Arden (born Harry Levy; 4 January 1926 – 21 July 2007) was an English music manager, agent, and businessman. He managed the careers of rock acts such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Air Supply, Small Faces, The Move, Black Sabbat ...
.
21st century
To celebrate the memory of
Freddie Mercury after the release of ''
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...
'', the Carnaby Street arch got a rework with Queen's logo being put up until early 2019.
Despite John Stephen closing his final business in 1975 (he died in 2004 aged 70) and the gradual movement to novelty shops with appeal to the ever increasing tourist trade, the boutique trade founded in Carnaby Street in 1957 by Stephen is still visible through the many shops of that ilk that still exist in the street today. Although featured in many books about London, the only book published which is exclusively about Carnaby Street and traces the history from the 1600s to 1970 is simply entitled ''Carnaby Street'' and was written by Tom Salter in 1970.
Cultural impact
In 1966
Lady Jane, the first ladies' fashion boutique opened, creating a public sensation when they had models getting dressed in the window, bringing Carnaby Street to a standstill. This typified the relaxed sexual attitude the era brought about.
Carnaby Street was satirised by
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...
in their 1966 hit, "
Dedicated Follower of Fashion," which contains the line "Everywhere the Carnabetian Army marches on, each one a dedicated follower of fashion."
It was mentioned in the 1967 film ''
Smashing Time
''Smashing Time'' is a 1967 British satirical comedy film starring Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave. It is a satire on the 1960s media-influenced phenomenon of ''Swinging London''. It was written by George Melly and directed by Desmond Davis ...
''. One of the songs, "Carnaby Street," features the lyric: "You'll pay for the gear on display to appear on the scene/ It's no good being mean/ They'll have your every bean."
In 1969,
Peggy March
Peggy March (born Margaret Annemarie Battavio, March 8, 1948) is an American pop singer. In the United States, she is primarily known for her 1963 million-selling song "I Will Follow Him". Although she is sometimes remembered as a one-hit wond ...
recorded an album called ''In der Carnaby Street'', with a hit song of the same name.
A song by
The Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...
, "Carnaby Street," was written by bassist
Bruce Foxton
Bruce Douglas Foxton (born 1 September 1955) is an English singer, songwriter and musician.
Foxton's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as bassist and backing vocalist of mod revival band the Jam. ...
. It was the B-side of single "
All Around the World."
''Carnaby Street the Musical'' opened in 2013. The show is set in the 1960s.
See also
*
References
External links
Official websiteKingly and Carnaby Street Area– the relevant chapter of the ''
Survey of London
The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an A ...
''
{{Authority control
1685 establishments in England
1960s fashion
Pedestrian streets in the United Kingdom
Shopping streets in London
Streets in Soho
Streets in the City of Westminster
Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster