January 1, 1970

I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet was a clothing boutique that achieved a period of fame in 1960s Swinging London, by promoting antique military uniforms as fashion items.

It was managed by Robert Orbach and was owned by John Paul and Ian Fisk. The original store opened in 1964, at 293 Portobello Road in London’s Notting Hill. Due to its great popularity throughout London’s swinging years (1965, 1966 and 1967), five more new stores opened in Wardour Street, Fouberts Place, Carnaby Street, Piccadilly Circus and also on the then-emerging fashionable King’s Road.

It was a favorite store of Jimi Hendrix, who purchased his iconic braided military coat, and many others, there. Also, many other celebrities of that time who frequented the shops were Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, the Beatles, The Who, and many other pop stars of the time.

Peter Blake, the artist who designed the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, said that he and Paul McCartney got the idea for the album sleeve while they were walking together past the I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet shop on Portobello Road.

copyright: By Paul Townsend from Bristol, UK [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons