King's Road

King’s Road in London is a major street that stretches through the Chelsea and Fulham areas of west London. King’s Road derives its name from its function as a private road used by King Charles II to travel to Kew. It remained a private royal road until 1830, but people with connections were able to use it. The street also gave it’s name to The Chelsea Boot hence our interest in it. In the 1960’s the street became a symbol of mod culture and with bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones all wearing the Chelsea Boot aka “The Beatle Boot” the term “The Chelsea Boot” was born, and stuck!

In the 60’s King’s Road was home to the famed Chelsea Drugstore and in the 1970s to Malcolm McLaren’s boutique, Let It Rock, which was renamed SEX in 1974, and then Seditionaries in 1977. During the hippie and punk eras, it was a center for counterculture, but has since been gentrified. It serves as Chelsea’s high street and has a reputation for being one of London’s most fashionable shopping streets.