John Stephen opened his first menswear boutique, His Clothes, in Carnaby Street in 1957. Coming from a background in retail rather than fashion design, his talent lay in observing his customers closely and responding to their needs. While most men’s outfitters stocked the traditional uniform of jackets and trousers in greys and blacks, Stephen offered a wide range of young, often playful styles in daring colours. His men’s ‘mini-kilts’ were amongst the more outrageous.

Recognising that trends changed quickly, Stephen changed his stock every few weeks to keep ahead. “Every time you walked past a John Stephen window there was something new and loud in it”, recalled the music journalist Nik Cohn in 1971. His shops attracted high-profile customers – the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Bee Gees – and sparked numerous imitations in Carnaby Street and beyond. Stephen has been credited with revolutionising how menswear was retailed. By the 1960s his influential and expanding chain of boutiques had earned him the title, 'King of Carnaby Street'.

This pinstripe suit breaks with the conventions of post-war tailoring. It is extremely tight-fitting, with wide flared trousers, patch pockets and long back hip vents. These vents ensured that the fashionable young man of the early 1970s could sit down in his figure-hugging gear. It belonged to the flamboyant milliner, David Shilling, who wore it with a white, wide-collared shirt and geometric print silk tie.