The boutique was the brainchild of two young Londoners, Nigel Waymouth and Sheila Cohen, who were looking for an outlet for Cohen's ever-increasing collection of antique clothes. Waymouth, a freelance journalist, came up with the name and was offered the premises at 488 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, a previously unfashionable part of the road known as the World's End. In the summer of 1965, John Pearse who had trained as a tailor on Savile Row, agreed to join them in the venture. The shop opened in early 1966.