“We were young, rich and beautiful, and the tide – we thought – was turning in our favour. We were going to change everything, of course, but mostly we were going to change the rules.” – Marianne Faithfull.

In the mid-1960s a handful of Chelsea boutiques sparked a fashion revolution. Freed and fuelled by creative exploration and experimentation, they began selling radical clothing to the counterculture youth. Their outrageously flamboyant designs were inspired by romantic ideas of the past; Byron-esque frilled shirts were paired with Regency brocades and plush velvet trousers were mixed with influences from Morocco and the Far East. They blurred gender boundaries with increasingly androgynous styles, creating an explosion of colour, pattern and decoration.

Beautiful People explores fabulous and rare examples from these era-defining stores and designers, examining the shared free spirit of Granny Takes A Trip, Hung On You, Apple, Biba, Mr Fish, Thea Porter, Ossie Clark and more. Clothes worn by the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix will be displayed as part of recreations of these iconic boutiques.

A whiff of Flower Power will be blowing at La Villette! Revolutions: Records and Rebels explores those extraordinarily innovative 5 years that shook the world. Immerse yourself in the sounds of the most iconic artists of the era: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin... Take a trip from the streets of Swinging Sixties London, to the heart of the May ’68 demonstrations in Paris, passing by the Summer of Love in San Francisco, soaking up the Woodstock festival vibe. You will also discover the French artistic avant-garde, the designers who have forever transformed fashion, the iconic pieces of design, as well as the great advances of technology.
It is more than a revolution, it is the foundations of our present, the influence of our current lifestyles and how we envisage our future.

Larry Smart RETRO-spective is the first ever solo exhibition by iconic 60's pop artist Larry Smart. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, this exhibition of original paintings and prints is the first time that the artist's work has been brought together under one roof - in Larry's former Notting Hill neighbourhood.

The exhibition not only features Larry's famous and widely recognised images of 60's pop icons but also landscapes and topiary images, as well as mandala paintings lit by an associated lightshow based on the original UFO Club performances. Following a global quest for missing Larry's, the exhibition features works previously feared lost.

London's V&A Museum holds Larry Smart's Jimi Hendrix poster in its permanent collection and used his 'Kaleidoscope Eyes' image to publicise its recent 'Revolution: Records and Rebels 1966-1970' exhibition. For the first time both portraits, as well as a third of Bob Dylan, will be available as limited edition screenprints.

Larry Smart RETRO-spective revives the spirit of the Summer of Love in Portobello and aims to celebrate the work and life of Larry Smart and his role in British pop art history.

How have the finished and unfinished revolutions of the late 1960s changed the way we live today and think about the future?

“A rousing and pertinent excavation of the revolutionary spirit of the 1960s” Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times

This major exhibition explored the era-defining significance and impact of the late 1960s, expressed through some of the greatest music and performances of the 20th century alongside fashion, film, design and political activism.