John Stephen

John Stephen was the king of Carnaby Street, and leader of the 1960s male "peacock revolution." He was a visionary and original fashion radical.

Stephen moved to London from Glasgow, aged 18, in 1952. Within four years he had opened his first shop in Beak Street. A year later, he moved round the corner to the dingy and distinctly down-at-heel Carnaby Street, where he made up his flamboyant and innovative designs in a workroom at the back of his shop at number 5. From these humble beginnings John soon went on to open 15 shops in the area under different names, dominating Carnaby Street, transforming it into the cool place to shop if you were young and hip.