18       rock ’n’ roll swinging london, twiggy, mods, rockers, malcolm x, beatles, rolling stones ... – the 1960s were an exciting time, in all their facets. above all, they were a time of prospering youth cultures. rebellion, blue jeans and rock´n´roll were the buzzwords of the decade, used by youngsters to rebel against prevailing social conventions and to break out of them. primarily england, and especially the london underground scene, was setting the tone for emerging youth movements worldwide. everything regarding fashion and music that came from london was absorbed by the teens and twens of many other scenes in the world and soon became part of their respective local culture. the british photographer john “hoppy” hopkins is considered one of the most important chroniclers of the rock´n´roll era. hopkins’ fantastically direct, almost intimate portraits of youth cultures of the sixties inspired many generations and artists in the years to come: mick jagger and keith richards having breakfast, brian jones live on stage, fans throwing admiring looks at the beatles, the motorcycle gang having a short rest, juvenile dance addicts at the dance hall etc. – hopkins’ photographs always give the viewer the impression of being right in the middle of events. lee jeans’ “gold label” collection for the coming fall season shows just how continuous the effect of john hopkins’ stylistic photo documents is. the designers were inspired by the london subculture of the sixties, when bikers and rockers met on the streets and in the clubs, wearing leather jackets and tight, deep black five-pocket jeans. this design retrospect has reminded lee jeans of their own history, causing them to relaunch some of their classic jeans pants from the 1960s. the “roaring sixties” live on – in music as well as in fashion! the legendary photographs by john “hoppy” hopkins are on display at the vassie gallery in amsterdam until the end of april 07, followed by an exhibition in paris in may 07 and copenhagen in june 07. helmut wolf