“We were creating trends all the time. I went to Persia with John Stephen and we came back thousands of little embroidered jackets and full-length coats called poustines, which we bought for next to nothing. They all went into my warehouse in Carnaby Street and it never occurred to me they wouldn’t sell. I was lucky not to catch anthrax from them! But hippies started wearing them and we even sold the bells that they hung round their necks. In the end, we ran out of bells and couldn’t find any more, but we eventually got them from people who manufactured them for budgerigars. Whatever worked!
“Somebody came in doing blow-up photographs which you could turn into a poster, and those were very popular. There’s a film called ‘If it’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium’, which was a major movie at the time and was about somebody travelling around Europe. At one period, they’re in London and they go into my shop in Carnaby Street and in the window, there’s a blow-up poster, which is me in a guards uniform, so every so often, that film comes up and I see it again.
“We had a Carnaby Street Association. John Stephen was the secretary and I was the chairman. The only reason why I was the chairman was because I was the only one who didn’t do menswear, so they figured I could be more objective, because although we were friendly, we were all very competitive.
“At the time that the film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ was released, we decided to have Christmas lights, because Regent Street had them, so the Carnaby Street Association got together and were all haggling. John Stephen said he could get the Bee Gees to turn them on, because he knew Robert Stigwood [the band’s manager]. I was friendly with the photographer Terry Donovan and he’d mentioned to me that Faye Dunaway [star of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’] was staying at his house and said that she might do it. At the meeting, we decided we’d ask both, because one of them was bound to say no – but of course, they both agreed to do it! So we decided we’d split it in two halves, and they’d have separate levers. I rented a 1937 yellow Phantom Rolls Royce and went with Simon Dee, the DJ, to collect Faye Dunaway, but she kept us waiting three or four hours while she got ready. So the crowds – because the street was packed - the Bee Gees, John Stephen, Robert Stigwood and all of the retailers were waiting for hours, and everyone thought it was all my fault! Years later, I had a club in Los Angeles called the Hollywood Athletic Club, which was an upscale pool hall, and one day Faye Dunaway showed up and we had a giggle about that time.
“That was actually when I first got my Rolls; I rented it for the day and ended up buying it. I also had a house in Kensington and a stately home in the country. Julie Christie was our neighbour in London and one night, when Rod Stewart was round and we were both out of our skulls, he said he wanted to meet her, so we were throwing pebbles up at her window at two or three in the morning – luckily, she didn’t answer!
“When you were in the middle of it, you took everything for granted. But after about ten years, I’d tuned in, turned on and wanted to drop out – so I did. I went to the States and got involved in meditation, and that was the end of my association with Carnaby Street.”
Jonathan Ross recently surprised Faye Dunaway when she appeared on his BBC TV show by showing her some footage of the Christmas lights ceremony in Carnaby Street. You can watch it here (it starts around 2.45):