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SALON NO 92: London Threads - Dressing the City

Up Savile Row and down the Kings Road

7.00pm Thursday 28th April 2022

The Horse Hospital
Collonade
London 
WC1N 1JD

Admission: Tickets £7.00/ £8.00 in advance only HERE

The Museum of London's BEATRICE BEHLEN and historian CINDY LAWFORD take us on a promenade along two of the best dressed London Streets.

For about 10 years, roughly between 1965 and 1975, King’s Road was at the centre of  Swinging London's sartorial universe, but it’s fashion history goes back earlier, starting around 1900 with drapers, outfitters, dressmakers and auxiliary trades.

BEATRICE BEHELEN leads us on a catwalk through the 20th century up and down the two-mile street, catching glimpses of celebrated designers such as Mary Quant, Ossie Clark and Vivienne Westwood, dropping into the shops of now lesser known fashion entrepreneurs such as Kiki Byrne and John Michael and of course sampling King’s Road’s infamous boutiques and antique markets.

“A gentleman gets his suit made on Savile Row, and he goes to Jermyn Street for everything else. 

Shirtmakers, shoemakers, tobacconists and tailors – have long been centred in St. James. Fashion Historian CINDY LAWFORD gets her glad rags on to take us on a tour of the history of The Suit along the road that made it famous - Savile Row. From 1660, through the life of infamous dandy Beau Brummell and the street's heyday in the 19th century through the impact of both world wars, of the Teddy Boys, the Mods, and of the new stars of the 1990s: Boateng and Richard James, Cindy explores how its  traditions have been maintained before we arrive at where we are now with the growing interest in womens' suits.

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BEATRICE BEHLEN is Senior Curator of Fashion & Decorative Arts at the Museum of London.  She studied fashion design in Germany before moving to London in 1989. She has worked and taught at  Courtauld Institute,,Kensington Palace, Annely Juda Fine Art and  Central Saint Martins since 2005.  Since 2018, she has been publishing a weekly podcast – Bande à part – with Rebecca Arnold. Her main interest is how lives of people can be told through their surviving clothes.


CINDY LAWFORD is a researcher, writer, and lecturer on matters of style and appearance, shopping and art, and their stories. She studied at the university of Virginia and the City University of New York before coming to London to complete her doctorate.
She is director of Fashion Tours London providing experiences around the City's historical retail and clothing history.

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Our new home, THE HORSE HOSPITAL, is a unique Grade II listed not for profit, independent arts venue within the only existing unspoilt example of a two-floor, purpose-built stable with public access in London. 

Built in 1797 by James Burton. the shell is constructed with London Stocks whilst the interior features a mock cobbled re-inforced concrete floor and ramps with slats to prevent the horses from slipping. Each floor has five cast iron pillars and several original iron tethering rings.

The upper floors are home to The Contemporary Wardrobe collection an unparalleled collection of British street fashion.

There will be a small bar to purchase drinks