Anglozine Unveils New Collection Inspired by the London Jazz Heritage

Inspired by the legendary Eel Pie Island Jazz Club, Anglozine introduces an Autumn-Winter 2020 capsule collection that celebrates 60s British Beatnik culture yet simultaneously nods to contemporary fashion. 

Built under the reign of Henry VIII and named after the go-to dish of the times, Eel Pie Island always had a hip and exclusive identity, from its origins to the current days. When in the late 1950s jazz fanatic and overall visionary Arhtur Chisnall started running a club night on the only hotel-cum-bar of the West London island, he even issued passports to its members. It’s no doubt the cool and bohemian atmosphere that surrounded the island attracted to these nights the cream of the soon-to-be mid-60s British RnB and Beatnik scene.  

Among its aficionados featured Davy Jones (aka David Bowie), Marc Bolan, Yardbirds’ Keith Relf, future members of the Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and Arthur Wood, brother of Faces and Stones’ guitarist Ronnie.

No wonder Italian cinema legend Alberto Sordi, when picking the locations for his director debut Fumo di Londra (aka Thank You Very Much), chose the Eel Pie Island Jazz Club to shoot several beatnik party scenes. It was 1966, Swinging London was all the rage across Europe, and the long-fabled Mods where the latest British cultural export to be witnessed.

Although by the time Sordi came to London the initiators of the scene had already moved from RnB to Freakbeat and Psych - as witnessed by the characters’ outfits - the venue still retained an atmosphere of youth excitement, transgression and artistic creativity. Original Mods Mickey Tenner and Denzil (future collaborator of photographer Robert Freeman) feature among the extras who genuinely belonged to the Richmond Bridge area and Youth Centre’s hip crowd. 

Straight cuts, captivating nuances and sophisticated casualwear manage to update the style of the London modernist underground jazz scene to modern prêt-à-porter scenarios. The pieces capture the Beatniks’ penchant for stylish but comfortable knitwear and cord, a jazzy and Parisian style that set them aside from the more Ivy League-oriented Mods.

Frog-mouth pocket corduroy trousers in crispy white and mustard, pull-on anoraks, and mock-neck jumpers feature as the highlights of the collection, with a tartan-pattern deerstalker hat being the icing on the cake and a tribute to the early RnB scene's adoption of such headwear - ideally carrying on the legacy of RnB revival legends The Headcoats. 

Anglozine’s AW 20 collection stands out in its originality, celebrating London subcultural heritage without staying snobbishly anchored to mere replicas of 1960s pieces. Two tops capture this spirit by portraying a reinterpretation of the Eel Pie island Jazz Club’s iconic mural painting – captured in evocative Technicolour in Fumo di Londra - on a mock-neck, baggy cut that nods to those 90s fits (Acid jazz anyone?) revisiting 60s fashion. 

With the Eel Pie island collection Anglozine goes beyond fashion and succeeds in keeping London youth culture heritage alive, by giving a new dimension to jazz coolness.

Browse Anglozine’s AW20 lookbook and shop the collection on https://www.anglozine.london/