Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in London, United Kingdom, located in the Soho district, near Oxford Street and Regent Street. It consists of twelve pedestrianised streets with numerous fashion and lifesyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques. The nearest London Underground station is Oxford Circus tube station (on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines).

Contents 1 History 2 Popular culture 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

Historically, Carnaby Street derives its name from Karnaby House, located to its east and originally erected in 1683. It is not now known why the house was so called. The street was probably laid out in 1685 or 1686. First appearing in the ratebooks in 1687, the street was almost completely built up by 1690 with small houses.

1958 saw the first boutique, His Clothes, opened in Carnaby Street by John Stephen (after his shop in Beak Street burned down)^[1] and was soon followed by I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet, Mr. Fish and Cecil Gee (both of whom owned bespoke tailor’s shops), Kleptomania, Mates, Ravel, and others.

By the 1960s, Carnaby Street proved popular for followers of both the Mod and hippie styles. Many independent fashion boutiques, and designers such as Mary Quant, Marion Foale / Sally Tuffin,^[2] Lord John, Merc, Take Six, and Irvine Sellars were located in Carnaby Street as well as various underground music bars such as the Roaring Twenties in the surrounding streets. With bands such as The Beatles, Small Faces, The Who, and Rolling Stones appearing in the area to work (with the legendary Marquee Club located round the corner in Wardour Street), shop, and socialize, it became one of Swinging London's coolest destination associated with the Swinging Sixties.

The Carnaby Street contingent of Swinging London stormed into North American and international awareness with the April 15, 1966 publication of Time (magazine)'s cover^[3] and article that extolled this street's role:

“

"Perhaps nothing illustrates the new swinging London better than narrow, three-block-long Carnaby Street, which is crammed with a cluster of the 'gear' boutiques where the girls and boys buy each other clothing..."[4]

”

There are two Westminster City Council green plaques on Carnaby Street: the first can be found at 1 Carnaby Street and is dedicated to fashion entrepreneur John Stephen, who was responsible for beginning the Mod fashion revolution here. The second plaque, located at 52/55 Carnaby Street, is dedicated to the Mod pop group Small Faces and their manager Don Arden.

[edit] Popular culture

Carnaby Street was an already well-enough established phenomenon to be satirised by the 1967 film Smashing Time. One of the songs, entitled '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 recorded an album called In der Carnaby Street, with a hit song of the same name.

There is a song by The Jam called "Carnaby Street", written by bassist Bruce Foxton. It was the B-side of single "All Around The World", released in the UK on 8 July 1977, reaching a chart position of number 13. It never appeared on any studio album, but can be found on the collected works of The Jam boxset Direction Reaction Creation.

In The Kinks hit "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," there is a line "...Everywhere the Carnabetian Army marches on, each one a Dedicated Follower of Fashion".

Heath Ledger's Joker outfit in the 2008 film The Dark Knight was inspired by a Carnaby Street Mod fashion.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carnaby Street

• Official site
• Kingly and Carnaby Street Area - the relevant chapter of the Survey of London
• Official band site

Coordinates: 51°30′48″N 0°08′20″W / 51.51333°N 0.13889°W / 51.51333; -0.13889