Paul Gorman is…

Mr Freedom + Kleptomania in Vogue and on the BBC as Tommy Roberts takes to the airwaves

Mr Freedom loveheart knickerbocker pinafore in sporting archive shots, Vogue June 2012

//Mr Freedom 1971 design in archive selection, Vogue UK, June 2012.//

Ahead of Tommy Roberts’ appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Midweek and London Live 94.9’s Robert Elms Show tomorrow, there has been a flurry of media mentions of the mould-breaking boutiques with which he was involved.

Kleptomania, the psychedelic Swinging London store Roberts ran with Charlie Simpson, moved to 22 Carnaby Street in late 1967; the purple frontage can be clearly seen on the right-hand side of this current screen-grab from BBC iPlayer.

Kleptomania in shot on BBC iPlayer homepage for London On Film series

//Screengrab, homepage, London On Film, BBC iPlayer, 2012.//

And one of the sportif designs – a velvet knickerbocker-pinafore created by Diana Crawshaw – sold at Mr Freedom (Roberts’ outlet with Trevor Myles) is featured in a selection of archive images in the current Olympics issue of British Vogue.

Listen out for Tommy on Libby Purves’ Midweek here and with Robert Elms here.

My new book Mr Freedom Tommy Roberts: British Design Hero is out soon; find out more and order copies here.

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