After the heyday of the 1960s, London’s Chelsea saw yet another cultural incarnation, the area in the 1970s becoming a hub for rebellious and unconventional young creatives. This was where Punks and New Romantics gathered. The latter could be seen hanging out around Sloane Square tube with their Trevor Sorbie “wedge” haircuts, while the former loitered on street benches along King’s Road, sporting Mohicans.
Music and fashion jostled for position in Chelsea, the vanguards for both being Vivienne Westwood and her business partner Malcom McLaren, with their first store, Let It Rock. They used design motifs such as Union Jack prints, oversized safety pins and leather covered in zips and studs. More than 40 years later these iconic ideas are still popular in fashion as well as interiors today.