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.
From an intimate self-portrait to a contemporary global presence, a new retrospective at Tate Modern explores the life, art and legacy of Frida Kahlo. Curated by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the exhibition will feature more than 130 works by the Mexican painter.
A Jazz Night with the Korean Quartet Gray by Silver
Korean quartet Gray by Silver performs at the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall in an intimate evening of contemporary Jazz and traditional sounds. An elegant fusion of voice, bamboo flute, and improvisation.
Bridgerton and Beyond: Music from the Series Live at the Royal Festival Hall
The BBC Concert Orchestra takes to the Royal Festival Hall stage with music from hit period dramas like Bridgerton and Downton Abbey. An evening of regency flair and live symphonic arrangements.
Hurvin Anderson’s first major retrospective explores twenty-five years of painting between England and Jamaica, memory and modernity, and brings together over sixty paintings by the British artist, ranging from nostalgic interiors to saturated landscapes, through a profound reflection on identity and belonging.
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