DEL.ICIO.USFROM ATLANTA TO ... LONDON
London’s Carnaby Street refashions itself
Culture hub from 1960s sports edgy hair salons, trim suits and sleek cafes today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, December 14, 2008
London - Before the ’60s booked a trans-Atlantic flight to San Francisco and OD’ed in a tarted-up Victorian house in Haight-Ashbury, the decade’s exclusive address was Carnaby Street. For a brief moment in pop culture history — a moment that happened to coincide with my youth — Carnaby was the hyper-charged nerve center of cool Britannia. Ever since, I’ve wanted to visit the street that shaped my sense of style.
Growing up in Memphis, I rejected the look of my neighbor Elvis Presley and looked thousands of miles away to decide what to wear. Even now, my wardrobe — suede jackets, flowered shirts and pin-striped pants — looks ripped from the pages of Tiger Beat magazine, circa 1966.
HOLLY CRENSHAW/hcrenshaw@ajc.com
Women’s fashions stand out at Merc on London’s Carnaby Street, where the 1960s have been updated with sleek new looks.
HOLLY CRENSHAW/hcrenshaw@ajc.com
The Face is easy to locate with its classic Mod target symbol out front.
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It’s a style that first erupted when the British Invasion took the world by storm. Dedicated followers of fashion turned their backs on the stodgier shopping boulevards of Madison Avenue and the Champs-Elysees. Suddenly, they couldn’t get enough of Carnaby’s bracing blend of cheeky and chic.
By the time it reached its Technicolor crescendo, the London Look had spread across the universe. A foppish velvet jacket or paisley scarf could turn any young man into a Jimi Hendrix look-alike. Skinny trousers and a scooter jacket could remake him into a member of the Who.
But trends disappear as quickly as they arrive. By 1977, the British Mod band, the Jam, was singing, “The street that was a legend is a mockery / A part of the British tradition gone down the drain.”
Back in style
Fast-forward a few decades, and I’m standing on a Carnaby Street that’s re-bloomed like a long dormant garden.
Everywhere I look, I’m surrounded by rededicated followers of fashion. They’re back in droves, lured by an aggressive marketing campaign and dozens of smart stores to keep them happy.
Close to 170 shops and restaurants line the pedestrian-friendly area, which began to reinvent itself around 1997. There are off-beat boutiques and vintage stores on every block, and generic chains have been purposely discouraged from moving in.
Shoppers may recognize a few brands such as Pepe, Diesel and Vans. But more often, they’ll encounter one-of-a-kind shops with such irreverent names as Fur Coat, No Knickers and Super Superficial.
What’s noticeably absent here is the strained nostalgia that now permeates Haight-Ashbury, where on a recent visit, I watched disappointed tourists wander in search of commodified cool — only to discover a Gap store.
Carnaby Street, in contrast, feels alive — not artificially resuscitated. There are edgy hair salons and refined, bespoke (custom) tailors. There are traditional pubs and sleek cafes, where 20-somethings mingle with the ghosts of hipsters past.
“I think it’s been regenerated, and most people wouldn’t expect that,” said Debbie Turner, 51, who used to shop Carnaby Street in the early ’70s and was strolling through on her lunch break.
Today’s sky-high real estate makes it prohibitive for young designers to work in the district, said 25-year-old Shiranii Bolle, a sales clerk at Ben Sherman. But a campaign to offer discounted leases to recent fashion design graduates is pumping new blood into the scene.
Sure, Carnaby isn’t as cutting-edge as it once was, but that’s not what it necessarily strives for. Most shoppers here — and definitely most tourists like me — come in search of a retooled version of the classic Carnaby look, “especially in this store because it’s so rooted in that era,” Bolle said.
“To them, Ben Sherman shirts are still part of that nostalgic way of dressing,” she said.
Would-be Mods
That same sensibility is on display at Merc (where I nabbed one of its signature T-shirts) and other shops that hawk a distinctly British feel. In every other window, there are tartan trousers and chunky Doc Martens to appeal to your inner punk rocker or geometric-print dresses for the Emma Peel inside.
For the would-be Mod, Sherry’s is a treasure trove of Fred Perry polo shirts, Londsale messenger bags, skinny ties and Union Jack belts. And it’s not just the clothes, but the entire Mod aesthetic that’s peddled here, from scooter paraphernalia to posters of the Who.
That’s what brings 21-year-old Craig Ashton to Carnaby Street several times a year.
Today the Brighton resident is dressed in a corduroy jacket with Lambretta patches on the sleeve and skinny trousers with thick-soled shoes.
The area, he said, “has recently got loads more shops. It seems like it’s trebled from two or three years ago.”
His favorite bands: the Who, the Kinks, the Small Faces and the Jam. His favorite stores: Sherry’s and Merc.
“Those are the one-stop Mod shops for the beginner,” he said.
Purists might find the street too touristy, Ashton warned. “A lot of the Mods I talk to are a bit embarrassed to come here.”
But I’ll admit it — I’m not cool enough to be embarrassed about being here and not young enough to care. The only thing that embarrasses me? I’m not as thin as I was when I first fell in love with these clothes and could have showed them off to much better advantage.
IF YOU GO
The Carnaby Street retail district - off Marlborough Street in central London - is centered around 12 streets, including Carnaby Street, Kingly Court, Newburgh Street and Ganton Street.
The nearest tube stops are Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus. For more information, check www.carnaby.co.uk, which has maps and shopping guides. There’s even a blog where readers can record their memories of the good old days.
WHERE TO SHOP
• Ben Sherman. After it opened in here in 1968, the store became identified with the classic Carnaby look. Today, the multilevel shop includes men’s and women’s fashions with a sharp British attitude. 50 Carnaby St., 020 7437 2031, www.bensherman.co.uk.
• Lambretta. This shrine to 1960s scooter culture features zip-front jackets, messenger bags and Italian-inspired looks, plus a new fashion line that pays tribute to the Who. 29 Carnaby St., 020 7437 7078, www.lambrettaclothing.co.uk<
• Merc. For 40 years, the Merc label has championed slim-cut suits, military jackets, pin-striped trousers and retro-looking accessories. For the bargain-budgeted, a T-shirt bearing the store’s Mod target logo is a stylish souvenir. 10 Carnaby St., 020 7439 7750, www.merc-clothing.com.
WHERE TO EAT
• Masala Zone. A one-minute walk from Carnaby, this affordable Indian restaurant serves warming curries and other spicy fare to help fortify shoppers against the chilly dampness of London. 9 Marshall St., 020 7287 9966, www.masalazone.com.
WHERE TO STAY
Some of the world’s most shockingly expensive hotels can be found in London, but there are bargain rooms, too. The Web site www.londontown.com lets you plug in travel dates and price range, and it will provide a list of available hotels. Best of all, there’s a pop-up map that pinpoints where each hotel is located.
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