Opening of first store
In October 1969, Glynn recommended a visit to the new Stirling Cooper boutique in Wigmore Street, describing its strange decor in graphic detail: "Ingress, or rather descent, is through the jaws of a dragon and you expect to find yourself in a salon with a digestive tract decor. In fact, once you have been swallowed by Geoffrey Vivas' smiling monster the style is Japanese bath house."[3] After warning Times readers about the skimpy and body-revealing doors of the women's changing rooms, Glynn added that this store was the best way to see Whiteside's whole collection in context. She described dresses trousers and shirts embellished with men's silver trouser buttons, adding: "free from the qualms of any store buyer she does ankle-length bonded jersey skirts, long waistcoats, tie-around spiv jackets and saggy mid-length jersey coats. A whole personal statement in clothes at such modest prices that the message reaches a mass audience."[3]
Menswear was also included in the new store and was designed by Antony Price, who had been co-opted by Whiteside straight from the Royal College of Art and was then 24. Less than a month later, Times fashion journalist Anthony King-Deacon previewed the new men's range, describing Price as: "one of the brightest young men in menswear designing in London." The article featured an image of Price in a long Stirling Cooper coat and described a limited range that featured safari jackets and wide-collared, pleated-sleeved shirt-waisters.[2]
The shop was a testing ground for new ideas that might later be included in the wholesale range, King-Deacon reported, and he defined it as effectively a couture house, the key differences being the ready-to-wear designs, the limited choice of sizes and the low prices. Turnaround on designs was rapid – as little as two weeks – and men's and women's clothes were made up in the same factory and in similar materials to bypass the tradition of higher manufacturing prices for menswear. Price said: "If cats had to pay as much as chicks for their garb they would automatically get hung up about fashion. But I think I know where it's at as far as a fella's clothes are concerned. I keep them new and cheap and different".[2] Clothes were usually manufactured in the East End, with knitwear and jersey being produced in Leicester.
Price's directional garments attracted a large fan base – especially after Mick Jagger became a customer of Stirling Cooper, wearing Price's button-side trousers on the 'Gimme Shelter' tour.[4][5] In September 1969, Stirling Cooper was among the brands – alongside Clobber, Quorum and John Marks – to receive financial assistance from the Clothing Export Council to attend the Paris prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) fashion fair, showing on a group stand. According to Jeff Banks, the British designers: "tore into the French."[6]
The company employed a pattern cutter called Lenny Rosen who was also production manager. In the late '60s Stirling Cooper took on a partnership with a tailoring company based in London called Sheraton. This brought Rosen's talents to the fore as he excelled in the quirky styles of its various designers. Rosen's protege was 18-year-old Roy (Wiggings) King. The pattern cutter Denise Dudman, while working for Stirling Cooper, would cut the first patterns for Jeff Cooper's first solo collection ....
King graded the patterns for this collection. Later he went on to form the Roy King brand, selling to Harrods, Selfridges and independent retailers throughout the UK. He also opened shops in the north west, trading as Academy, Metropolis, Metropolis Junior and Reaction Premiere.
Jef Cooper asked Sheridan Barnett & Sheilagh Brown to create the Look & design the clothes for his new brand called Coopers. Jef kept the wonderful Stirling Cooper shop in Wigmore St. Working out of the studios in South Molton St & Clifford St, Sheridan Barnett & Sheilagh Brown created iconic clothes that were featured in all the most influential fashion magazines & media of the time .(see Sunday Times editorial by Michael Roberts and Molly Parkin, photographs by Guy Bourdin 6/8/72 ). After a year, they moved on to join Ossie Clark & Alice Pollock at Quorum, where they created some of the most iconic fashion looks of the decade. They went on, several years later, to creat their own, critically acclaimed, collections under the Jazz label. Later in their careers, they worked independently under their own label and also designed & consulted for major fashion companies Jaeger and Marks & Spencer
