Motcomb Street is a street in the City of Westminster's Belgravia district in London. It is known for its luxury fashion shops, such as Christian Louboutin shoes, Stewart Parvin gowns, and the jeweller Carolina Bucci, [1] and was the location of the original Pantechnicon department store.
The street runs south-west to north-east from Lowndes Street to a junction with Wilton Terrace, Wilton Crescent, and Belgrave Mews North. Kinnerton Street joins it on the north side and Halkin Mews is on the south side.
The street first appeared on a map in the 1830s, and was originally called Kinnerton Mews, but soon became Motcomb Street. [2] Although built as houses, many soon became shops, and by 1854 included cow keepers, bakers and grocers, and Richard Gunter had his confectionery shop there at the corner with Lowndes Street. [2]
It was the location of the original Pantechnicon, a large building designed by Joseph Jobling and constructed by Seth Smith in 1834 as a bazaar or department store, mainly for the sale of carriages and household furniture and which covered two acres, bounded by Lowndes Street and Kinnerton Street. [2] [3] It was destroyed by fire in 1874, and rebuilt behind the facade, which was all that remained. [2] [3]
In 1986, Thea Porter had a short business partnership with Princess Dina of Jordan in a smaller shop, Arabesque, on Motcomb Street. [4] Zandra Rhodes has stated, "Sadly, one didn't hear of her after that". [4]
The first Jimmy Choo shoe store was opened in 1996 on Motcomb Street. [5] [6] Christian Louboutin opened his first shoe store at no 23, and it is still trading there. [7]
In 2015, it was announced that the Pantechnicon building would be redeveloped while maintaining its neo-classical façade. [8]
In September 2017, following work to the street, it was reopened with a street party. [9]
Mayfair is an area in London, England and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts in the world.
Belgravia is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable residences in the 18th century. In the 20th it had an American and Canadian diplomatic presence, and currently is mixed use, commercial.
Grosvenor Group Limited is an internationally diversified property group, which traces its origins to 1677 and has its headquarters in London, England. It has a global reach, now in 62 international cities, with offices in 14 of them, operated on behalf of its owners, the Duke of Westminster and his family. It has four regional development and investment businesses and a portfolio of indirect investments. Its sectors include residential, office, retail, industrial, along with hotels.
Cities of London and Westminster is a constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Parliament. As with all constituencies, the election is decided using the first past the post system of election. Until the 2024 general election, where the constituency elected a Labour Co-op MP, the constituency had always elected the candidate nominated by the Conservative Party.
Christian Louboutin is a French fashion designer. His stiletto footwear incorporates shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. Initially a freelance designer for fashion houses, he started his shoe salon in Paris, with his shoes finding favor with celebrity clientele. He has partnered with other organizations for projects including limited edition pieces, gallery exhibits, and a custom bar. His company has since branched out into men's luxury footwear, handbags, fragrances, and makeup.
Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia in the 19th century that are named after places in Cheshire — in this case Eaton Hall, the Grosvenor country house. It is larger but less grand than the central feature of the district, Belgrave Square, and both larger and grander than Chester Square. The first block was laid out by Thomas Cubitt from 1827. In 2016 it was named as the "Most Expensive Place to Buy Property in Britain", with a full terraced house costing on average £17 million — many of such town houses have been converted, within the same, protected structures, into upmarket apartments.
A pantechnicon was originally a heavy furniture removal van drawn by horses and used by the British company The Pantechnicon for delivering and collecting furniture which its customers wished to store. The name is a word largely of British English usage.
The Caledonian Club is a prestigious Scottish-focused London members' club located at 9 Halkin Street SW1, near Belgrave Square in Belgravia, London, SW1.
Jimmy Choo is a British luxury fashion house specialising in shoes, handbags, accessories and fragrances. The company, J. Choo Limited, was founded in 1996 by Malaysian Chinese couture shoe designer Jimmy Choo and British Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon. The brand claims to have been a favourite of Diana, Princess of Wales. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired in November 2017 by Michael Kors Holdings, now Capri Holdings.
Belgrave is a historic village in Cheshire, England. The area is part of the estates owned the Dukes of Westminster who have their seat at Eaton Hall, Cheshire. The village has a few houses and the Grosvenor Garden Centre. Belgrave Lodge is located at the western end of the 1.7 mi (2.7 km) main approach to Eaton Hall, which is known as the Belgrave Avenue. The name Belgrave is based on the Anglo-Saxon meaning for “beautiful grove”, which Normans replaced after the Conquest from the old name “Medregrave” which in Old French meant “filth grove”.
Lowndes Square is a residential garden square at the north-west end of Belgravia, London, SW1. It is formed of archetypal grand terraces of light stucco houses, cream or white. The length of the central rectangular garden is parallel with Sloane Street to the west; visible from the north-west corner is a corner of the Harvey Nichols store, beyond which is Knightsbridge tube station. Ecclesiastically, it remains in a northern projection of one of the parishes of Chelsea, except its east side, which is in the very small parish of St Paul, Knightsbridge, a division which is mirrored secularly by the boundaries of two London Boroughs.
Wilton Crescent is a street in Belgravia, Central London, comprising a sweeping elegant terrace of Georgian houses and the private communal gardens that the semi-circle looks out upon. The houses were built in the early 19th century and are now Grade II listed buildings. The street is the northern projection of Belgravia and is often taken to fall into the category of London's garden squares.
Mount Street is an east–west, quite narrow, archetypal street in the Mayfair district of the City of Westminster, London fronted by many mid-rise buildings, mostly of a narrow frontage. The sides of two very grand hotels flank part of either end of the street. Small, high-end property businesses, investment funds and accountancy businesses punctuate the buildings as well as a row of traditional businesses and conversion-style mansion block apartments or, more generally, authentic such homes.
South Audley Street is a major shopping street in Mayfair, London. It runs north to south from the southwest corner of Grosvenor Square to Curzon Street.
Whaddon House is a block of flats in William Mews, Knightsbridge, London, England.
Halkin Street is a street in Belgravia, London, running south-west to north-east from the north-east corner of Belgrave Square to Grosvenor Place.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Belgravia. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of the area viz. South Carriage Drive to the north, Grosvenor Gardens/Place/Square to the east, Buckingham Palace Road/Victoria railway line to the south-east and Chelsea Bridge Road, Lower Sloane Street/Sloane Square/Sloane Street to the west.
Kinnerton Street is in the district of Belgravia in the City of Westminster, London, England. It had modest origins as a service street for wealthy areas of the Grosvenor Estate and was originally occupied by the animals, servants, shopkeepers and tradesmen who served their richer neighbours. The small side streets on its west side end at the Ranelagh Sewer which was not covered over until 1844. The street was the site of a medical school where the dissecting was carried out for Gray's Anatomy. Later, the street was gentrified.
William Mews is a mews street in Knightsbridge, London. It is named after William Lowndes of the local landowning Lowndes family.
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