Simpsons of Piccadilly
Encyclopedia
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
in central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and was built as a quality clothing store for men in 1935–36. Opening for business in April 1936, the store was called 'Simpson' (Piccadilly), but was commonly known as Simpsons or Simpsons of Piccadilly in the same way that J Sainsbury stores became known as Sainsbury's.
The architect of this multiple-floor Modernism building was Joseph Emberton
Joseph Emberton
Joseph Emberton 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 architects Trehearne and Norman between 1913-1914, before serving as a gunner in the Honourable...
, and Simpson's was the first shop in Britain to have an uninterrupted curved-glass frontage. This new style was made possible by arc-welding a wide-span steel frame, rather than earlier techniques which involved using bulky bolted joints. The interior was designed with rooms conforming to domestic proportions arranged around an open staircase.
Simpsons is notable for the 42-foot (12.8-metre) spans of its welded steel framing, which produced one of the most elegant shop interiors of the decade, although the purity of the concept was compromised as a result of interventions by the London County Council. It was faced in Portland stone as required by the landlord.
Straddling two streets, the building has entrances in both Piccadilly and Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a street in the City of Westminster, central London, to the south, parallel and adjacent to Piccadilly.It is well known as a street where the shops are almost exclusively aimed at the Gentleman's market and is famous for its resident shirtmakers Jermyn Street is a street in the...
, where it replaced the former Museum of Practical Geology.
The Simpson family, which gave the store its name, established their bespoke tailoring workshop in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
in 1894. By 1929 they had moved it to North London and in the early 1930s created the DAKS trouser with its patented self-supporting waistband. This was in an era where braces were commonly used to hold trousers up; the name is said to have been a contraction of "Dad
DAD
DAD is an abbreviation that may refer to:* D-A-D, a Danish rock band formerly known as "Disneyland After Dark"* Diode array detector, a type of detector in HPLC* Da Nang International Airport IATA airport code...
's slacks
Slacks
Slacks is a colloquial term referring to trousers. However, it could also refer to:*Donovan Slacks, leader of a militant fishermen's uprising in 1920s Britain*Slacks Creek, Queensland, a suburb of Logan City , Queensland , Australia ....
". In Australia, DAKS trousers were extremely popular for some time, to the extent that, in Australian English
Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
, "daks" (or "dacks") remains a common vernacular term for trousers and underpants. The brand, somewhat ironically, has not been available in Australia for many years.
The company ethos for Simpson of Piccadilly was to be a purveyor of "quality clothes for the well-heeled". Indeed, the store regularly attracted the "tweedy
Tweedy
Tweedy may refer to:As a name:*Alex Tweedy*Bob Tweedy*Cheryl Tweedy*George Tweedy*Jeff Tweedy, leader of American band, Wilco*John Tweedy*John Hubbard Tweedy*Samuel Tweedy*Tweedy Bird LocAnimal:*Tweedy's Crab-eating RatShips:*USS Tweedy...
set" including Royals, MPs, dignitaries and country landowners. However, since 1991 (after a takeover), the store attempted to aim its sales and marketing efforts more towards the affluent, younger customer.
During the early 1950s, scriptwriter Jeremy Lloyd
Jeremy Lloyd
Jeremy Lloyd is an English writer, screenwriter, author and actor, best known as co-author and writer of several successful British sitcoms.-Career:...
was employed as a junior assistant at Simpsons; he drew on his experiences to come-up with the idea for the highly-popular 1970s/ 80s television sitcom Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John...
With around 150 staff employed by Simpson's at the time, the building was sold to the Waterstone's
Waterstone's
Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe....
chain in 1999. It is now their flagship store. On the top floor is a bar, 5th View Bar & Food, with a southerly view over the rooftops towards the Houses of Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
.
Although Simpsons is no longer trading as it was, the DAKS Simpson brand of menswear and womenswear continues and is sold in DAKS stores, amongst other outlets. The DAKS flagship store is in Old Bond Street.