Swinging London
In the mid-1960s London became the capital of youth culture. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Mary Quant's miniskirt, Carnaby Street boutiques and photographers like David Bailey made the city a byword for modern style.
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What happened
Twenty years after the Blitz and the years of rationing, London in the mid-1960s became the capital of a youth-driven cultural revolution. A baby-boom generation with jobs and spending money created a market for music, fashion and design aimed squarely at them.
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks dominated the charts, and the 'British Invasion' carried them to America. Mary Quant popularised the miniskirt from her shop on the King's Road, Carnaby Street filled with boutiques, and models such as Twiggy and photographers such as David Bailey became celebrities. In April 1966 Time magazine put 'London: The Swinging City' on its cover.
The period also brought real social change: the abolition of the death penalty, and the decriminalisation of abortion and of homosexuality in England and Wales in 1967. But the 'swinging' image described a small, mostly affluent slice of the city, and many Londoners lived in poor housing far from Chelsea's boutiques. By the end of the decade the mood was shifting toward psychedelia and protest.
Around the same time
- Apollo 11 launches to the Moon, Cape Canaveral, USA, 1969
- Ghana wins independence, Accra, Ghana, 1957
- The People's Republic is proclaimed, Beijing, China, 1949
- Independence and Partition, Delhi, India, 1947
Earlier: Ghana wins independence, 1957 · Later: Apollo 11 launches to the Moon, 1969
Further reading
Encyclopedia article: Swinging Sixties (en.wikipedia.org)