Paul Gorman is…

TON: Paul Reeves’ Wiltshire farmhouse – A Collector’s Dream

Apr 17th, 2023

I have known the Arts & Crafts connoisseur, collector and dealer Paul Reeves since the early Noughties when I approached him for the second edition of my fashion x music book The Look; Paul’s previous career as a designer took in such important 60s and 70s labels and boutiques as Sam Pig In Love, Alkasura and The Universal Witness.

From the off we got on like a house on fire and became firm friends; he was a major contributor to my Tommy Roberts book and the ever-generous Paul has often hosted Caz and I at his wonderful Wiltshire farmhouse.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Invitation to the 1970 opening of Universal Witness in Fulham Road: Paul Reeves’ taste-making brilliance, George Hardie’s graphic excellence + David Bowie’s bippity-boppity hat…

Aug 16th, 2022

//George Hardie’s design for card announcing the opening of Universal Witness at 167 Fulham Road on November 17 1970//

Here’s another treasure from the trove of Design magazines given to me by the designer Paul Walters; the invitation for the opening of Paul Reeves’ west London boutique Universal Witness in November 1970.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Refna revival: Elizabeth Hamey’s adventures in art, design + fashion

Aug 9th, 2017

//Jean Shrimpton in Mr Freedom Minnie Mouse top, Hans Feurer, Fancy Dressing, Nova, December 1970, with the original design on tracing paper by Refna. No reproduction without permission//

Exciting news: Elizabeth Hamey, who signs her work ‘Refna’, has granted me access to her amazing archive of work at the cross-hatches of art, design and fashion in the 1960s and 70s.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chris Spedding: Unsung hero of Seventies style from Alkasura + Granny Takes A Trip to Let It Rock, Sex + Seditionaries

Mar 13th, 2016
Let It Rock Chuck Berry84844224-photo-of-chris-spedding-gettyimages

//In Let It Rock Rock ‘N Roll Lives Chuck Berry T-shirt, 1975. Photo: Ian Dickson/Getty Images//

Sex leather jacket -chris-spedding-studio-portrait-london-1975-picture-id121166741

//Also 1975 – pink pegs from Sex. Photo: Michael Putland/Getty Images//

Sex jodhpur boots461187237-english-jazz-guitarist-chris-spedding-in-a-gettyimages

//At home in London, 1978. Photo: Fin Costello/Getty Images//

Guitarist Chris Spedding at a Nico show at CBGB, February 1979.

//At a Nico show at CBGB, February 1979. Photo: Ebet Roberts/Getty Images//

Guitarist Chris Spedding is one of the unsung heroes of Seventies style.

I’ve been a fan of his music and look since 1974, when I acquired Jab It In Yore Eye. This was the second album by Sharks, formed by Spedding with other survivors of the early 70s music scene after leaving jazz-rock outfit Nucleus and gigging with Jack Bruce.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Published for the first time in 46 years: Inside legendary King’s Road boutique Alkasura

Feb 18th, 2016
Alkasura 1

//Alkasura staff inside 304 King’s Road. Photographer: Unknown. Paul Gorman Archive. No reproduction without permission//

This is the first time these photographs – taken inside London’s legendary glam boutique Alkasura – have been published since they appeared in a Japanese fashion magazine in 1970.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The mystery of Pierre Laroche’s Breakfast, The Who at Charlton + the tragic demise of Alkasura’s John Lloyd

Mar 22nd, 2012

Pierre's Breakfast, 1974, by Willie Christie.

I am beguiled by this photograph, which is entitled Pierre’s Breakfast and was taken by Willie Christie at David Hockney’s house in Notting Hill on May 18, 1974.

The identities of the two individuals on the left are a mystery*; with Clark (in the white jumpsuit) are make-up artist Pierre Laroche, Marianne Faithfull and Michael Roberts (then writer/photographer at The Sunday Times, now Vanity Fair’s fashion/style director). Behind the group are a selection of artist Mo McDermott’s signature painted wooden tree sculptures.

Laroche, who had worked at Elizabeth Arden for five years before taking up with rock & roll when he was recruited by Brian Duffy for the cover of David Bowie’s 1973 album Aladdin Sane, engaged Willie Christie for the May 74 session for a potential magazine feature.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,