Garbstore AW23: 'A New Uniform for the Mountain Grill'

The birthplace of British beatnik culture and a hotbed for underground magazines such as International Times, the Mountain Grill was a hub for discussion about counter-culture topics and hosted performances by some of the UK’s most talented musicians.

The British counter-culture movement that developed during the mid-1960s was linked to the hippie movement in the United States. It generated magazines and newspapers, bands and clubs, an alternative lifestyle associated with cannabis and LSD use, and a revolutionary socio-political agenda to create an alternative society. This new perspective was born in the Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill area of London, which late musician Mick Farren said “was an enclave of freaks, immigrants and bohemians long before the hippies got there.” It has also been depicted in Colin MacInnes’ novel Absolute Beginners about street culture during the Notting Hill Riots in the 1950s.