Collecting 101 | British. Cool.

1960s

The Swinging Sixties

As the 1950s drew to a close, Britain shook off its post-war gloom and started a cultural revolution. The Swinging Sixties was a decade of imagination and opportunity, spurred on by a teenage generation exploring its new-found freedom.

A new, British brand of rock ‘n’ roll hit the airwaves, from The Beatles to The Rolling Stones. By the mid-60s, the “British Invasion” of bands hit the US, and the UK’s cultural influence could be felt from New York to California. London was the epicentre, where a youth fashion scene exploded and daring designs, such as Mary Quant’s miniskirt modelled by teenage sensation Twiggy, popped up in boutiques on Carnaby Street and Kings Road.

Iconic designs stretched beyond fashion, from the enduringly popular Mini Cooper to Peter Blake’s epochal Sgt Pepper album cover for The Beatles. Blake was a pioneer of the Pop Art movement in Britain, alongside Richard Hamilton, paving the way for artists such as David Hockney and Bridget Riley. This new generation of artists broke the traditional distinctions between art and design, integrating commercial and mass-produced elements into their work. The result was a bold and instantly recognisable style, brimming with energy and irreverence.

1970s

A Decade of Change

If the 1960s was a decade of dreams, the next decade was when Britain confronted gritty reality. It was a politically and economically tumultuous era of strikes, uncertainty and unemployment. In this climate of insecurity, the youthful optimism of the previous decade matured into a determination to bring about change: the 1970s produced a sequence of progressive legislation, including the Equal Pay Act and the Race Relations Act, as well as cultural milestones such as the first official UK Gay Pride.

British culture was in flux, and its output was complex and contradictory. David Bowie shape-shifted into the androgynous Ziggy Stardust; Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s fashion boutique was rebranded as the fetish shop SEX. Counter-culture movements tested the boundaries of taste and acceptability, and Punk pushed these to the extreme.

In the second half of the decade, Punk set out to shock with in-your-face aesthetics and anti-establishment lyrics. While parades and street parties celebrated the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, the Sex Pistols were savaging the monarchy in the single God Save The Queen. By the end of the decade, Britain was a changed country: one where a woman could be Prime Minister. In 1979, No. 10 opened its doors to Margaret Thatcher and everything changed again.

2000s

A New Era

Britain headed into the new millennium with an air of confidence. The government planned a spectacular exhibition to showcase British talent at the much-anticipated Millennium Dome but the Millennium Experience was underwhelming and cracks in the Labour’s PR machine started to show. Over the next decade, global political and economic events would continually shake the nation’s confidence, impelling artists to reinterrogate what it means to be British.

The YBAs – no longer young provocateurs – became part of the art establishment. In 2007, Tracey Emin represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, while Damien Hirst took advantage of the decadence of a pre-financial crash art market, with works including a diamond-encrusted skull. Meanwhile, a new breed of British artist rose to prominence.

Figures such as Banksy, the Connor Brothers and Harland Miller subverted familiar 20th-century imagery with an acerbic wit, while Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry used the craft form of ceramics to tackle challenging contemporary issues.

In music, the laddish swagger of Britpop was injected with irony and insight by the Arctic Monkeys, and Radiohead wrestled with anxieties about technology and information overload. In fashion, Burberry combined its British heritage appeal with tech savvy, and became a digital leader in the luxury sector.

In 2012, the Olympics shone its light on London and Danny Boyle’s weird and wonderful opening ceremony achieved what the Millennium Experience had failed to do twelve years earlier: it presented the world with a true celebration of Britain’s rich and dynamic cultural history.