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| photo credits: BBC |
Bond Street is one of the most important streets in
the West End of London that runs north-south through Mayfair between Oxford
Street and Piccadilly. Bond Street is revered throughout the
world for its wealth of elegant stores, exclusive brands, designer fashion,
luxury goods, fine jewels, art and antiques. Set in the heart of historic
Mayfair, in London’s popular West End, Bond Street has become a haven for
gracious living.
Since its foundation in 1700, Bond Street has been a
playground for society’s wealthiest, most stylish and influential people. Past
residents of the street have included Admiral Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma
Hamilton as well as a number of renowned authors and poets. Today over 300
years on, Bond Street remains a much-loved destination for celebrities,
socialites and the international jet set.
Bond Street and
its surrounding area boasts a impressive number of Royal Warranties and is home
to some of the world’s most individual and unique hotels and restaurants,
including Claridge’s and The Ritz, as well fine establishments such as The
Royal Academy of Art and the world famous auction house, Sotheby’s.
It has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th
century and is currently the home of many high price fashion shops. The
southern section is known as Old Bond Street, and the northern section, which
is rather more than half the total length, is known as New Bond Street. This
distinction, however, is not generally made in everyday usage. It is one of the
most expensive strips of real estate in the world. |
| Image credits: Wikipedia |
Bond Street takes its name from Sir Thomas Bond, the
head of a syndicate of developers who purchased a Piccadilly mansion called
Clarendon House from Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle in 1683 and
proceeded to demolish the house and develop the area. They also built nearby Dover
Street and Albemarle Street. At that time the house backed onto open fields and
the development of the various estates in Mayfair was just getting underway. It
moved predominantly from south to north, which accounts for the southern part
of the street being "Old" Bond Street, and the Northern half being
"New" Bond Street. The latter was added in a second phase 40 years
later. John Rocque's map of London published in 1746 shows the whole length of
Bond Street and all its side streets fully built up.
New Bond Street
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| photo credits: The Clothes Whisperer |
At one time Bond Street was best known for top end
art dealers and antique shops, clustered around the London office of Sotheby's
auction house, which has been in Bond Street for over a hundred years, and of
the Fine Art Society, present on the street since its foundation in 1876. A few
of these remain but many of the shops are now occupied by fashion boutiques,
including branches of most of the leading premium-priced designer brands in the
world. In recent years Sloane Street, which is a mile or so away in
Knightsbridge, the other shopping district in central London concentrating on
items de luxe, has become a rival to Bond Street, with duplicate branches of
many of the top boutiques.
The northern end of Old Bond Street, in particular,
is also notable as one of the world’s greatest concentrations of outlets of
upmarket jewellers, to the extent that presence on the strip may now be
regarded as de rigueur for any brand wishing to proclaim the highest
international standing.
The street features "Allies", an unusual
statue by Lawrence Holofcener of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt,
who are portrayed sitting on a park bench in conversation.
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| photo credits: Wikipedia |
Shops currently located on Bond Street include
Boodles, Smythson, Armani, Louis Vuitton, Graff Diamonds, Cartier, Dolce &
Gabanna, Tiffany & Co., Hermès, Polo Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Prada, Gucci,
Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry, DKNY, Ermenegildo Zegna, Yves Saint Laurent,
Bulgari, Harry Winston, Dior, Anya Hindmarch, Jimmy Choo, Chopard, Mulberry,
Longchamp, Anne Fontaine, Calvin Klein, Alexander McQueen, Missoni, Victoria's Secret and Miu Miu (I've just highlighted and linked my favourites, notwithstanding the fact that I can't afford most of them!).
Bond Street is mentioned in a number of works of
literature, including Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility, Virginia
Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs Dalloway, and Suzanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr.
Norrell. It is also a square on the British Monopoly board, the same colour as
Regent and Oxford Streets – green – and is the most expensive of the three.
In 2011, Bond Street was Europe's most expensive
retail location. Rent rates rose 19.4% from the year before.
If you are going to London, Bond Street should be a 'must-visit' in your list! Click here for a printed guide and for maps to take you there from different places in the city.
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| photo credits: Visit London |
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