by When Barbra Streisand once walked in unceremoniously, Jimi Hendrix was a customer, and sometimes John Lennon’s white limo would pull up outside. Salman Rushdie called it “60s education in cool”. Granny Takes a Trip, the King’s Road shop that opened in London in 1966 and became a counterculture hangout, is relaunching with a little help from the Rolling Stones.
Rushdie wrote how “for the various heads and freaks who hung out there, it was the Mecca, the Olympus, the Kathmandu of hippy chic”.
Inspired by the irreverent spirit of the original, the 2024 digital iteration will only work with second-hand clothes and dead stock fabrics. Looking to the brand’s musical roots, additional clothing from the music merchandising industry will be transformed into limited edition garments.
The retailer’s chief executive, Marlot te Kiefte, hopes to evoke a similar mindset to the original and encourage people to “step back and appreciate fashion”. She draws parallels between the 2020s and the 1960s, with widespread political unrest, a rise in collectivism, as well as an interest in wellness, spirituality and the psychedelic.
The relaunch comes amid a wider revival of ’60s culture and fashion. The recent collaboration between fashion writer Leandra Medine Cohen and French brand Soeur has helped revive slimmed-down polo shirts, shifty shapes, spacey metallics and short half-lines.
On the small screen, Apple TV’s Palm Royale, set in Palm Beach in the summer of 1969, features the underdog Maxine Simmons who says: “Send the richest people to mix and mingle crabs in a barrel.” But social climbing plays second fiddle to sunglasses, headscarves and kaftans. Alix Friedberg, the show’s Emmy-winning costume designer, relies on vintage finds from Dior, Emilio Pucci, Givenchy, Chloé and Chanel.
On the silver screen last year, Sofia Coppola’s film about a young Priscilla Presley put ’60s fashion – beehives and all – in the spotlight. While in London, a show celebrating all things Biba opened last month at the Fashion and Textile Museum. Founded in 1964, it was one of the world’s first lifestyle brands.
The 60s have come out swinging in a high fashion as well. At Dior, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri referenced Miss Dior, the ready-to-wear line launched in 1967, for a collection soundtracked by 1969’s Je T’aime … Moi Non Plus with Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. At the Chanel show in Manchester in December, there was a top hat to the 1960s via baker-boy caps and tweed skirt suits in acid brightness with Mary Janes. While at Celine, Twiggy acted as muse for the shift dresses and mini skirts.
The younger generations seem to be catching on – second-hand site Depop, a favorite of Gen Z, has seen a 30% increase in searches for mini skirts, 17% for baker hats and 235% for leopard print. Polo necks are also trending.
On Pinterest, searches for Biba are up 65% and searches for 60s styles, 60s outfits and shift dresses are up 30%. The number of people looking for leopard print outfit inspiration has increased sevenfold.
What’s behind the 60s revival? Fashion and the world are in a turbulent time and, perhaps seeking solace, a nostalgic mood is growing.
The recent death of 60s style leaders may also be affecting the mood. After making miniskirts fashionable, Mary Quant, who once described the garment as “a great life and opportunity”, has died aged 93, prompting a moment of commemoration and celebration of her mark on fashion .
The late model and actress Birkin continued to set trends in death as in life. Her death last summer sparked a fashion boom inspired by her signature Highland style on resale sites such as Vestiaire Collective. And the overstuffed handbag she’s involved with is a great styling trick – there are tutorials on TikTok on how to advertise your Birk bag.
But this is about much more than the run of the style warriors. Fashion historian Tony Glenville says the decade may also be experiencing a renaissance as “the very clean, short look of the ’60s is a great antidote to layering and volume”. He thinks that decade was “so different to today; it was optimistic and about change, rights, short skirts … It was a lot of fun”.
In 2024, a time of financial pressure in the UK, when “we’re not socializing, not working and not having fun”, Glenville says the 60s could be very attractive. “[Looking back] through rose-tinted glasses, [people] was social, clubs [were] Starting, [people were] outdoors, exploring new things, [it was] a chance … to have fun for little money.”
