In 1971, a young elementary school teacher rented the back of a shop on Kings Road. The heart of Swinging London in the ‘60s, the former private road of Britain’s Kings had already seen the invention of the mini-skirt in the atelier of Mary Quant. But the best was yet to come. The new tenant was none other than Vivienne Westwood, who occupied number 430 with companion Malcolm McLaren, future manager of the Sex Pistols. The hippy utopia was coming to an end and the United Kingdom was about to feel the shock wave of Punk. Let It Rock started as a 1950s Rock-n-Roll record store but Vivienne soon started assembling clothes in the Teddy Boy style. “I used my store as a crucible,” Westwood would later say when she became a world-famous stylist, “Malcolm and I changed the names and the decor of shop to adapt to the clothing as our ideas evolved.” And so, from Edwardian velvet to torn clothes, to safety-pins, to latex, to whips, to t-shirts with provocative writing, to DIY clothing using tubes, bottle tops and chains, it became a beacon for a street style with no taboos. Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die, Sex and Sedictionaries are the names that appeared over its doors, while inside the boutique, memorable pages of music, fashion and youth culture were written. Would Vivienne have ever believed it if someone predicted she would become a Queen of Fashion with Royal Honours bestowed upon her? On Kings Road, the shop’s sign has been the same for some time now - World’s End, along with its emblematic clock running backwards.
Next appointment in September with London Fashion Week where avant-garde and innovative streetwear confirm London as the plush heart behind many street style trends.
A special visit to the East Wing of Buckingham Palace
From 15 July until the end of August 2024 it will be possible to visit the famous East Wing of Buckingham Palace which opens to the public after five years of careful restoration. An unmissable opportunity to discover, behind the scenes, that part of the British Royal Palace in front of whose gates tourists from all over the world gather every day.
Judy Chicago rose to fame in the late 1960s for making works from a female-centered perspective, challenging the male-dominated art world landscape. Her work is characterized by a commitment to craftsmanship and experimentation.
The thin thread that binds Hockney to Piero della Francesca
Two Hockney paintings, one showing his mother and father and the other depicting his friend, will be displayed with the "thread that ties them together", Piero della Francesca’s The Baptism of Christ.
An Emperor’s Jewel - The Making of the Bvlgari Hotel Roma
A new movie starring Bvlgari Global Brand Ambassador Priyanka Choora Jonas and produced by Atomic Production and directed by Andrea Rovetta, gives viewers an unprecedented view of Bvlgari Hotel Roma, taking them behind the scenes to discover the craftsmanship and culture that inspired the property.