The Unique History of Grannypdf

The Unique Story of Granny Takes A Trip
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he Unique Story o
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ranny Takes A Tri
4
The

Beginning
The relationship between music and fashion was

born in the latter half of the 1960s.
Nowhere expressed this better than London and
the emergence of the relentlessly cool movement
and the boutique boom of the swinging 60s.
Artists of all types flocked to the new boutiques
to find progressive looks at Hung On You and
Mr. Fish.
But the greatest pilgrimage by the most influential
artists of the time was to Granny Takes A Trip on
the Kings Road.
Keith Richards, Mick Jagger wearing

Granny items with Bob Dylan
5
1966 – The
Opening
Granny Takes A Trip was a boutique at 488

Kings Road. The shop was opened in 1966 by
Nigel Waymouth and Shelia Cohen, who had
the inspiration for the store being an outlet for
Cohen’s collection of vintage clothes. Waymouth
and Cohen employed John Pearse to assist them
with their ideas. Pearse had trained as a tailor on
Savile Row and he agreed to work with them in
the role of remodelling and restyling the vintage
clothes to suit the contemporary fashion demands.
Granny Takes A Trip created and upcycled clothes
that were exotic with elegant tailoring, fit for any
cosmopolitan citizen.
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8
The Early

Years
Within months of opening, Granny Takes A Trip had

a worldwide reputation that paved the way for a
boutique boom that had arrived on the Kings Road.
It was a store that ignited the idea of appealing
to both genders, later epitomised by the clothes
shared by Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg.
On visiting Granny, customers went on what
was known as a pilgrimage. The shop’s interior
was dark and mysterious, and its exterior façade
frequently changed, which included having a
Dodge saloon car that appeared to be crashing
out of the window and a giant pop-art face of Jean
Harlow. These unique aspects all contributed to
characterising the Granny Takes A Trip brand.
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Granny Takes A Trip was soon a regular
haunt for many of the coolest stars,
including The Rolling Stones, Jimi
Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The
Small Faces, The Byrds, The Animals,
The Who, David Bowie, Donovan, Marc
Bolan, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Led
Zeppelin, Roger Taylor, Ginger Baker,
and Barbra Streisand. These music
artists attracted a wider community of
creative artists including the likes of
Dennis Hopper, Salvador Dali, Brigitte
Bardot, Monica Vitti, Ursula Andress
and Yul Brynner.
11
1970s and
America
By the end of the decade the original partnership of
Waymouth, Cohen and Pearse had lost momentum
and they sold the business to Freddie Hornik.
Hornik was a fashion connoisseur who continued
to grow the business, employing two New York
designers Gene Krell and Marty Breslau. Granny
Takes A Trip was transformed to sell more velvet
suits and stack-heeled boots as it continued its
glam rock fashion lines. Hornik expanded the
business further, opening branches in New York
and Los Angeles.
Although Hornik retained the store’s success and
continued to clothe many famous stars, the growth
of chain stores on the Kings Road forced Granny
Takes A Trip to close in 1974.
Granny Takes A Trip has gone down in history as a
legendary store that played a huge role in defining
the boutique fashion of the “swinging sixties”. It will
be remembered for its individual take on fashion,
its upcycling and remodelling of clothes, and
becoming a regular haunt for the coolest artists of
the time.
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13
“
…But not only the

clothes sold at Granny’s were
revolutionary, the boutique
also became known for its
changing façade. In 1966 it
featured giant portraits of
Native American chiefs Low
Dogs and Kicking Bear.
In 1967 the entire

front was painted with
a giant pop-art face of
Jean Harlow and was
later replaced by an
actual 1948 Dodge
saloon car which
appeared to crash out
from the window onto
the forecourt.”
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Source: A.G. Nauta Couture, December 2012 -‘Granny Takes A Trip - a boutique everyone wanted to be seen in’
15
The changing shop fronts at 488 Kings Road

“
For The Stones,
designers like
Tommy Nutter
and shops like
Granny Takes A
Trip gave them
the freedom to
express themselves
stylistically’
Source: John Varvatos
16
17
“
The first people
to sniff us out
were the mixture
of Chelsea gays
and debutants.
Then pop stars
started quickly
coming after
them. We
had all these
personalities
coming through
and groups like
The Animals
would have their
photos taken
outside.”
Source: Nigel Waymouth
19
“
Granny’s was from
the ground up, as
opposed to tailoring
and boutiques that
were coming from
haute couture. We
were coming out
of ideas that we as
young people wanted
to wear, not what
we were told was
fashionable”
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Granny garments worn by the Rolling Stones, featured on the outside cover their
album Between the Buttons (1967), photographed by Gered Mankowitz
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Granny’s clothes worn by the Beatles, featured on the inner sleeve of their album
Revolver (1966)
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“
One morning we
were sitting around
cross-legged on
the floor, passing
a joint around and
these two blokes
came in. They
looked around and
said, “this is a nice
place isn’t it” we
looked up and it
was John and Paul.’
23
“
Notably, George Harrison
brought a tailored green
jacket featuring a classic
William Morris Golden
Lily design- only around
20 were ever produced
by Granny’s but other
owners included Nigel
Lesmoir-Gordon, Joe Boyd
and Dennis Hopper. John
Lennon opted for a similar
jacket instead sporting
Morris’ Chrysanthemum
pattern.”
Source: Tom Pinnock
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Brian Jones, Anita Pallenberg and Keith Richards photographed by Michael Cooper in Marrakech
26
“
I enjoyed it when Anita
Pallenberg and Brian
Jones used to come in.
We had Clapton, Ginger
Baker, The Who, Pink
Floyd, Hendrix, you name
it. And Bardot and Monica
Vitti. The Byrds’ drummer
[Michael Clarke] fell
asleep on the couch, and
never went home”
Source: John Pearse
27
“
Before that, Syd
(Barrett) had become
very dress-conscious
and expressive very
quickly. Roger Waters
and the others just
copied him”
Source: James Wedge
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30
“
The Beatles came in often,
and the Stones. Brigitte
Bardot’s sister, Mijanou, used
to take our clothes back to her
boutique in Paris. Sometimes
she brought her sister with
her, which was always very
pleasant. At other times there
was someone like Yul Brynner
or Barbra Streisand or Ursula
Andress. Brian Jones and John
Lennon used to come in after
hours; we used to open the
shop especially.”
Source: Tom Pinnock
31
LEFT: Noel Redding wearing Granny

Takes A Trip Liberty print jacket, 1967
MIDDLE: Jimi Hendrix at Granny

Takes A Trip c.1967
RIGHT: Mitch Mitchell from The Jimi

Hendrix Experience wearing William
Morris pattern jacket, 1967
LEFT: Keith Richards wearing

snakeskin boots from Granny Takes
A Trip, 1969
MIDDLE: Green velvet Granny jacket

worn by Keith Richards c.1971
RIGHT: Velvet trousers from Granny

Takes A Trip worn by Keith Richards
c.1971
32
LEFT: Rod Stewart wearing leopard
print suit from Granny Takes A
Trip, 1972
RIGHT: Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood

wearing Granny
LEFT: Led Zeppelin wearing Granny

Takes A Trip c.1973
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“Probably the
most iconic
garment made
by Granny
Takes A Trip -
William Morris
chrysanthemum
print jacket as
worn by John
Lennon...”
Source: A Dandy in Aspic Article, 2011
35
Roy Wood from The Move,1967 Jess Down, Rufus Potts Dawson, Nigel Waymouth
(wearing William Morris chrysanthemum pattern jacket)
and future disco queen Amanda Lear, 1967
36
Ad from 1967 Plan of the interior of Granny’s Poster by Nigel Waymouth advertising
in London Magazine, October 1966 Granny Takes A Trip, c.1967
37
38
Gra
nny
Tak
Lad
es
ies
b
AT
rip
oots
, 19
69
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40
Roy Wood from The Move,1967
Todd Rundgren’s inside sleeve of his album Something/Anything? (1972)
Featuring Granny’s sequinned jacket
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Keith Richards, velvet jacket, designed by

Granny Takes A Trip c.1966
43
Charlie Watts, velvet jacket with lamé

and silk shirt, c. 1966. Jacket designed by
Granny Takes A Trip
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45
Keith Richards
in Granny Takes A Trip suit
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Pink Floyd wearing Granny Takes A

Trip c. 1967
48
Gold and black lurex suit made for
Marc Bolan (now in V&A collection), 1971
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Two of Mick Jagger’s velvet tartan jackets c.1966 designed by Granny Takes A Trip
50
Inside cover of the Rolling Stones album Exile on Main St
(1972) Mick featured wearing Granny’s tartan jacket
51
Created by Charles Garland for The Rolling Stones, October 2020

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The Unique Story of Granny Takes A Trip

The Unique Story of Granny Takes A Trip

The relationship between music and fashion was

Keith Richards, Mick Jagger wearing

Granny Takes A Trip was a boutique at 488

The Unique Story of Granny Takes A Trip

Within months of opening, Granny Takes A Trip had

…But not only the

In 1967 the entire

The changing shop fronts at 488 Kings Road

LEFT: Noel Redding wearing Granny

MIDDLE: Jimi Hendrix at Granny

RIGHT: Mitch Mitchell from The Jimi

LEFT: Keith Richards wearing

MIDDLE: Green velvet Granny jacket

RIGHT: Velvet trousers from Granny

RIGHT: Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood

LEFT: Led Zeppelin wearing Granny

Keith Richards, velvet jacket, designed by

Charlie Watts, velvet jacket with lamé

Pink Floyd wearing Granny Takes A

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