John Stephen to be awarded a blue plaque on Carnaby Street...

What a great idea -- to put plaques of influential designers/retailers/stylists etc. on the streets where they worked. I wonder if 7th Avenue does that in NY? or the Champs Elysee in Paris?
 
Well the blue plaque system is for influential people from all areas of life who lived or worked in London. I think supporters tend to submit suggestions and a committee then decides who is most worthy (sorry if you already knew that, I wasn't sure!). I'm now interested to know if any of the other greats, like Hartnell or Amies, have their own blue plaques .

<a href="http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1499">http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1499</a>

Do they do similar things in Paris/NY at all??

I remember going past one for Dylan Thomas on the bus in Camden, and the house was in such a dreadful state. The door was so weatherbeaten most of the paint had come off and it was filthy. Somewhat appropriate I guess....

Liz
 
the closest thing i can think of is the Hollywood walk of Fame. I am not sure if any movie costumers are on it. Maybe you have to be a big, well known personality in addition to designing to be on.
 
i know there is a blue plaque in bourne to commemorate charles worth's birthplace as i was there the other day! i'm pretty sure they are now a nationwide thing, which is excellent...

although i agree about how sad it can be to see a blue plaque on a neglected looking house.. i used to walk past arthur ransome's family house pretty much daily - ash grove i think in the hyde park bit of leeds? - and the building looked pretty much squatted!

i suppose at least the plaques mean there is a permanent record of where notable people came from, and does let people know that it is historically interesting - which in turn hopefully means a fuss will be made if they try to pull it down etc.
sorry, rambling - but as you say liz i'm sure dylan thomas would have appreciated a bit of faded grandeur!
 
Here, we have a register of historic places. The place gets a plaque on it or sign out front. The owner of the home/building is required to keep it historically accurate if it is not indeed owned by a historical society/town. Because the historical markers are often noted in local travel guides, or in info about the town, people are motivated/required to keep the places up. I will have to pay attention when i next go to a metropolitan area if any relate to fashion. if the town was really known for textiles and garments and it impacted the way of life, I am sure something would get a marker. All in all though, people that we normally think about have passed away in the past 30 years or are still alive, even if they are living in obscurity,so unless they made an impact very young, they are not yet historical enough for a historical marker.

if Coco Chanel once lived somewhere, I am sure there would be a marker eventually, but beyond that, i have no idea. and then something historical had to happen there. (and then how historical it was to a town. if not a lot happened there it would be a big deal, if a lot of stuff maybe not as much.).
 
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