Some names transcend generations and mean different things to different people. To me it was that cool, somewhat intimidating shop selling amazing Hawaiian and fifties shirts, pleated trousers in candy and pop colours, biker boots and leather jackets at the far end of the Kings Road - that open air catwalk of unscripted style. I’d walk its length - from Sloan Square Tube towards Worlds End - passing the Chelsea Barracks, the punks on the park bench, then looking into the antique market, R Soles, Woodhouse, Boy and Flip and American Classics as I made my journey down what was to me an unmatchable fashion parade. These mannequins would occupy the windows of the my final destination, Johnson's.
But going to this new exhibition featuring Lloyd Johnson's archive isn’t (just) a nostalgia trip, it’s a celebration of taste and a kind of creative resistance which provided an antidote to the various mainstream attitudes of the seventies, eighties and beyond.
Curated by Mr Paul Gorman, it's no surprise that this is a complete and comprehensive show. Itself an exercise in style, Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter is relevant not just to folks wishing to stroll down memory lane, but to anyone with an interest in one of Britain's most important style visionaries.
Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London SW1. Thro 'til March 3rd.
