Former British fashion retailer
Lord John
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/London%2C_Carnaby_Street_-_1973_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2816675.jpg/220px-London%2C_Carnaby_Street_-_1973_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2816675.jpg) Carnaby Street branch, 1973
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Industry
| Fashion retailer
|
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Founded
| 1963
|
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Founder
| Warren Gold
Harold Gold
David Gold
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Headquarters
| London, England
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Lord John
was a British men's fashion retailer, which opened its first store at 43
Carnaby Street
, London, at the corner with
Ganton Street
, in 1963.
[1]
The first Lord John boutique was opened by the brothers
Warren
, Harold and David Gold in Carnaby Street in 1963, and the choice of name led to litigation from
John Stephen
who already owned several fashion shops in the street.
[2]
In 1967, the store had a three-storey high giant
psychedelic
mural on the outside of the building, painted by the then largely unknown pop-art collective
Doug Binder
,
Dudley Edwards
and
David Vaughan
(BEV).
[2]
[3]
Lord John was very popular with
mods
, and regular customers included the pop groups
The Small Faces
,
The Who
, and
Brian Jones
of
the Rolling Stones
.
[2]
It appeared on the cover of the 1967 album
This Is My Scene
by the
Alan Tew
orchestra, and was also seen in the 1969 horror film
The Haunted House of Horror
.
Lord John had eight shops by 1970, and grew to about 30 in the early 1970s, before being acquired by the retail group
Raybeck
. The company sponsored a chess tournament, the Lord John Cup, in 1977.
Lady at Lord John industrial dispute
[
edit
]
In 1983 there was an industrial dispute at the Lady at Lord John branch in Liverpool.
[4]
Audrey White
, the manager of the store, complained of
sexual harassment
experienced by four members of her staff by an area manager.
[5]
When senior management tried to sack her, White found that although she had little support amongst other workers at the store, other workers in Liverpool and further afield supported by setting up picket lines outside the store in Liverpool and other company stores in
Manchester
and
Liverpool
. After five weeks the company backed down and White was reinstated. The TUC credit this strike as playing a significant part in the campaign for workplace equality legislation such as the
Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005
.
[6]
The film,
Business as Usual
featured
Glenda Jackson
playing the role of Audrey White, who was credited as co-writing the film with Lezli-An Barrett.
[7]
End of the line
[
edit
]
It was sold to
Next
in the mid-1980s, when they became Next stores.
[3]
References
[
edit
]