Herb Schmitz’s lost London demi-monde: City Lights Studio, Yvonne Gold, Katharine Hamnett, Ika Hindley, David “Piggy” Worth, Jay Johnson, Barbara Trentham, Marrion Womble et al

//Marrion Womble + Barbara Trentham in City Lights Studio clothes, London, 1973.//

Herb Schmitz proudly describes himself as a photojournalist.

From the start of his career in London in the late 60s, the Dusseldorf-born Schmitz has turned an unerring eye to all manner of subject matter: seascapes,Turkish gangsters, the WW2 head of the Polish government in exile, the social scene in latterday Shoreditch (where he has operated a studio for more than 25 years)…

//Ika Hindley models Hamnett bangles, 1973.//

In the wake of a recent exhibition at Amsterdam’s Unseen Photo Fair, Schmitz has opened his archive of early 70s fashion photography for me, revealing images of a lost London demi-monde clad by such hallowed enterprises as City Lights Studio (the Covent Garden boutique operated by the subject of my latest book, Tommy Roberts) and Katherine Hamnett’s label Tuttabankem.

Schmitz’s models included Marrion (sometimes Marion) Womble, these days much-praised for spurring the acceptance of men of colour into mainstream fashion coverage; the African-American was used by Yves Saint Laurent to open and close his shows in this period.

Womble was sometimes partnered with the striking blonde Barbara Trentham, who later married comedian John Cleese. Other Schmitz regulars included the exotic and often disrobed Ika Hindley and the late David Worth, the male model known as “Piggy”, a member of Chelsea World’s End set whose friends included SEX superstar assistant Jordan and another of Schmitz’s work buddies, Yvonne Gold, the maquillage artist who also served time at 430 King’s Road during its Let It Rock incarnation and created the make-up look (including the gold cupid bow lipstick) for the models for McLaren and Westwood’s 1981 Pirates collection.

//Above: Womble + Trentham again in City Lights, 1973.//

Schmitz was based in Covent Garden in the early 70s, hence his use of local eateries Bertorelli’s and Terence Conran’s Neal Street Restaurant. These and the location of one shoot at the abiding Julie’s in Holland Park evoke an opulent glam aesthetic enhanced by the designs by Hamnett and the City Lights team of Derek Morton (menswear), John Yong (womenswear), Malcolm “Percy” Raines (millinery) and Ronnie Melia (footwear).