Carnaby Street in Soho is arguably one of the most famous roads in London thanks to its long history of being a hangout for the capital’s most on-trend residents. The area has been regarded as the birthplace of Swinging London in the 1960s, and the home of the mods, skinheads and punks.
Nowadays the street is a buzzing, pedestrianised shopping and dining destination that draws huge numbers of tourists every year. Over the years the street has seen it all, from famous faces to iconic campaigns and protests.
For years Carnaby was the place to be if you were a creative in search of inspiration. Carnaby earned its credentials during the 1960s with vibrant clashes of colour, new cultures, exciting new music and a rebellious identity; there was nowhere else like it in London. Music stars including Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and style icons Brigitte Bardot and Elizabeth Taylor were all Carnaby Street regulars.
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It was pedestrianised in 1973 and the iconic ‘Carnaby Street welcomes the World’ sign was installed. Punk emerged taking Carnaby by storm with The Sex Pistols pictured on the street in 1976, now one of music’s most iconic photographs of the time.
Fast forward to the 1980s and a new wave of British designers moved into the area including Vivienne Westwood, John Richmond, Mary Quant and Pam Hogg. Carnaby was the place to showcase defiant style. Take a trip down memory lane with a selection of photos taken at Carnaby Street over the past 60 years.
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