Simpsons of Piccadilly was a large retail store situated at 203-206 Piccadilly in central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It was created by Alexander Simpson and architect

Joseph Emberton Joseph Emberton (23 December 1889 – 20 November 1956) was an English architect of the early modernist period. He was born 23 December 1889 in Audley, Staffordshire and was educated at the Royal College of Art. He first worked for the London ar ...

. When it opened in April 1936 it was the largest menswear store in Britain, and is now a Grade I listed building due to its innovative construction. Its original purpose was to house the entire range of clothing provided by the tailoring company S. Simpsons and DAKS. It was later purchased by the Waterstones chain of

bookshop Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...

s, and currently serves as their flagship store.

History

After the launch of the successful DAKS trousers in 1934 Alexander Simpson wanted a store in which to stock the entire S Simpson range in central London. Wanting a location near Savile Row so that the foreign visitors to that street could go to examine Simpson clothes nearby for its high quality ready-to-wear tailoring, in 1935 the site of the old Geological Museum in Piccadilly was to be sold on a 99-year building lease, which Simpson won at auction for £11,000. The site had a frontage on both Piccadilly and on

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers. His ...

(rear entrance) with a footprint of about and an easy walking distance from Savile Row. Simpson's aim was to build a large, modern menswear store to serve as a flagship for the S Simpson brand, with a steel structure, faced in Portland stone and to be built as high as permitted, and to compete with the store built for the rival Austin Reed ten years prior. Simpson contracted

as the architect for this project, known for his modernity in architecture and for designing the interior of the Austin Reed store. The building's main elements were large bands of Portland stone alternating with strips of windows spanning the whole building width, a glass wall that stretched the height of the building at that lit each open-plan floor with natural light (from a side

lightwell In architecture, a lightwell,light well, light-well sky-well,skywell, sky well or air shaft is an unroofed or roofed external space provided within the volume of a large building to allow light and air to reach what would otherwise be a dark or ...

due to the densely built up area), against which the enormous

Travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

marble staircase spiralled up the centre of the building, and the distinctive non-reflecting concave windows along the street level at front and back – the first in the country at the time. The design is distinctly modern in comparison to the regular architectural style of the time. Simpson wanted the building elements to visually show their function rather than be disguised by unnecessary decoration. It is considered innovative in its use of materials with large windows, chromium-plated fittings and a steel structure devised by Felix Samuely. The

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...

first had the steel framing removed before agreeing to allow its use. It cost such a price that Alexander Simpson warned that the company was not expecting to earn a profit for several years after due to his determination for creating something of such high quality (for which it later won awards). László Moholy-Nagy, a director of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

school, designed much of the visual merchandising and displays for the shop, including the in-store signage, the window displays, and three

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

to be exhibited on the fifth floor at the store opening merely to draw in curious customers, attract headlines and increase footfall (the door framing had to be removed to allow the aeroplanes into the building and suspected to have been winched up the centre of the staircase).

Ashley Havinden Ashley Havinden (1903–1973) was an influential British graphic designer in the mid twentieth century, specializing in posters, advertisements, logos and typography, he was also a textile and rug designer. In 1947 he was appointed a Royal De ...

, influenced by cubism, futurism and Bauhaus typography, designed the store's logos, advertising, and some rugs and carpeting. The store housed many other services such as a gift shop, a dog shop, a barber's shop, and restaurant (the wine vault can still be found in the basement), along with the departments for Simpson clothing – bespoke tailoring (Simpson wanted customers to be able to see the tailors in action), ready-to-wear DAKS suits, and a sport shop. Shop fittings and lighting were designed by Emberton which are still in place such as the stairwell's 90-foot chromium light fitting suspended from the ceiling, and the steel and glass handrails. On the fifth floor was a balcony that allowed views across London at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

Simpsons of Piccadilly Stairwell Light Fitting 2012

The building is recognised as

's masterpiece – the front glass and stone strips are not quite horizontal as perceived on first glance, but at a slight angle to help appear more horizontal, keep clean for longer and reflect the coloured neon lighting that was in place at the opening; ducts are hidden around the walls so that the lights in them reflect better off the ceiling, the water supply was by an artesian well in the basement; the vast open floors which were uncommon at the time, fitted with hidden sliding fire doors; a vacuum cleaning system with vertical tubes installed through the building and in the ceiling ducts; the use of new coloured neon-lighting for the front of the shop that he'd used at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach before; and having the first curved-glass windows in Britain. A year after the shop's opening in 1936 Alexander Simpson died at the age of 34 from

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in May 1937. The shop's performance was successful, renowned for the window displays and was considered a sight for London, and as planned by Simpson, the fourth floor was designated to womenswear a year after opening. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Simpson Piccadilly was one of the largest stores to stock wartime uniform for soldiers, providing for both men and women officers and civilians. Simpson was commissioned by the Government to make a wide selection of clothing and in total it was worked out that seven million items of clothing were produced. Dr Simpson (the company successor and elder brother of Alexander Simpson) opened the members club on the top floor of the store for soldiers where they were able to find a place to sleep, bathe and telephone loved ones. After the war, when it was announced that DAKS clothes would start selling again, queues of people would line up down Piccadilly, tailors would measure them in line, and suitable pairs of trousers were then presented to them in the store. In the early 1950s, scriptwriter Jeremy Lloyd was employed as a junior assistant at Simpson; he drew on his experiences to come up with the idea for the highly popular 1970s/80s television sitcom '' Are You Being Served?'' Throughout the last few decades of the 20th century, the store branched out on the variety of stock and sold other brands such as

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, ...

, Mary Quant and

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses ...

Present day

Simpson continued to trade in the Piccadilly store until the 1990s after DAKS Simpson Group plc was acquired by the Japanese group Sankyo Seiko Co. Limited in 1991, and the building sold to the Waterstones chain of bookshops in 1999 and now serves as their flagship store. On the 5th floor is a bar, 5th View Bar & Food, with a southerly view over the rooftops towards the Houses of Parliament. Although Simpson is no longer trading as it was, the DAKS Simpson brand of menswear and womenswear continues rebranded under the DAKS name and is sold in DAKS stores, amongst other outlets with the flagship store now on

Old Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and th ...

. DAKS holds royal warrants granted from three members of the Royal Family. The royal warrant by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

was given in 1962, that from the Duke of Edinburgh in 1956 and from The Prince of Wales in 1982.

References

*Wainwright, David; ''The British Tradition: Simpson – a World of Style'', Quiller Press Ltd, 1996. . * Butler, Marianne; ''London Architecture'', Metro Publications, 2004. . * Powers, Alan; ''Modern. The Modern Movement in Britain'', Merrell, 2005.

External links

DAKS company website

Joseph Emberton Archive, University of Brighton Design Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpsons Of Piccadilly 1936 establishments in England Art Deco architecture in London Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Bookshops in London British Royal Warrant holders Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Westminster Retail companies established in 1936 Retail buildings in London Shops in London Companies based in the City of Westminster Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Buildings and structures on Piccadilly Real estate companies established in 1936 British companies established in 1936 Grade II* listed retail buildings