Swinging LONDON LIFE magazine June 1966 Carnaby DAVID BROWN ASTON Lorne Greene

Swinging London issue of London Life magazine, incorporating Tatler.  Rejuvenation of a celebrated title, with a generous feel of "Tatleresque" high-society.

Content includes :

Centre pages colour spread of the Palladium theatre on the launch of colour television at the BBC.  BTS filming images include of Lorne Greene, MILLICENT MARTIN, etc

Allen Sherman's whimsical search for Swinging London.  Includes an old school BOWLER HAT pub drinker, fashion at a mod CARNABY STREET boutique, and a visit to the about to be launched Playboy club.

Rare interview with David Brown - of Aston Martin Lagonda fame, 2 pages inc large photo portrait.

CYNDY BURY full page feature

DISCOTHEQUE fashion spread with clothes by Maxine Leighton, TONY ARMSTONG etc, 4 pages

+ model FIONA FRASER, JOHN KELLY and TINA BIRCH etc

Comprehensive listings of performing arts events.

More about this rare title:

In its brief but stormy existence, the David Hillman-designed London Life magazine epitomised the Swinging 60s London Life magazine was launched in 1965 as a ‘what’s on’ for the Swinging London set. It was the brainchild of Mark Boxer, the founding editor of the Sunday Times Magazine, who assembled an editorial ‘dream team’ to produce it. Art direction was provided by David Hillman, who was barely into his 20s at the time. David Puttnam, then still at advertising agency CDP, came in as managing editor. Model Jean Shrimpton was a consultant fashion editor. The roster of photographers included Terence Donovan, Duffy and Ron Traeger. And a young Ian Dury provided occasional illustrations.

The magazine’s distinguishing feature was its prominent use of the date of the issue on the front cover. Though based on typeface Bodoni, this was hand-drawn every week. There were four different paper stocks: the cover, a 28-page wraparound newsprint section for listings at the front and back and both gloss and matt sections for features in the middle (the mixture being influenced by Willy Fleckhaus’s Twen magazine). There was also often a centre gatefold. The listings section was printed letterpress, which meant huge amounts of work for Hillman and his team of two artworkers and two designers. 

All this made the magazine expensive at two shillings and sixpence. Soon after launch, Hillman recalls, there was pressure to make it more commercial which led to the departure of Boxer and Hillman soon afterward. The first thing that the new editor did was to remove the distinctive dateline on the cover. The magazine closed in 1967.

Perhaps due to its short period of existence, London Life is something of a forgotten gem although, Hillman says “nobody at the time thought it was any good”. Hillman showed some of the pages reproduced here at his recent D&AD President’s Lecture alongside his more famous work for Nova and The Guardian. Afterwards, it was London Life that everybody seemed to want to talk about.

A graduate of the London School of Printing, David Hillman worked on the Sunday Times Magazine before becoming art director of London Life in 1965. In 1969 he became art director of Nova, where he stayed until the magazine closed in 1975, helping it become one of the most important magazines of the era and one that is fondly remembered to this day. In 1988 Hillman 

redesigned the Guardian newspaper, at which time he was a partner at design studio Pentagram. Hillman left Pentagram in 2007 and now runs Studio David Hillman from his home in Gloucestershire. 

This is a rare edition of London Life. A London listings title that coupled 'What’s On' lists along with editorial content spanning fashion, music and film. Very much at the heart of London’s Swinging Sixties and sadly only ran for a few issues.  Fabulous art direction by David Hillman of Nova and The Sunday Times magazines.

19 June 1966

60 pages

Published in the UK

Staplebound

Printed on gloss stock

Published by Illustrated magazines Ltd, under the ownership of Roy Thomson.

Very good condition. The photographs are of the actual magazine that you will receive; we don't use stock images

Post includes insurance & online tracking. We are happy to combine post.

B 1967 211116_4656