Carnaby Street in London was already buzzing with mod fashion and youthful energy by the mid-1960s. In April 1966, Henry Moss and his business partner Harry Fox added to that energy by opening Lady Jane, a women’s fashion boutique that would quickly become one of the street’s most talked-about shops. The name alone turned heads, but it was what happened in the front window just weeks after opening that truly put Lady Jane on the map.
On May 11, 1966, Fox set a bold publicity plan in motion. He hired two models — Diane James and Jina Baker — to act as living mannequins in the boutique’s display window. Their job was simple but daring: change clothes in full view of the street, not once, but repeatedly over three consecutive days. Both women wore underwear throughout, but the sight of them dressing and undressing in the window was enough to bring Carnaby Street to a near standstill.
Crowds packed the pavement outside Lady Jane each day. Shoppers, tourists, and passersby pressed against the window to watch. Word spread fast, and the national press picked up the story, giving the boutique a wave of free publicity that money could not easily buy. For a shop that had only been open a matter of weeks, the coverage was enormous.
Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield, who was in London at the time, paid a visit to Lady Jane during the stunt. Her appearance drew even more attention to the boutique and guaranteed further press coverage. Mansfield was one of the biggest celebrities of the era, and her presence on Carnaby Street outside a small fashion shop made for an irresistible story.
The success of the stunt, however, came with consequences. The crowds that gathered on the pavement became so large that they spilled into the road, blocking the flow of traffic along the street. Police intervened, and Henry Moss was arrested. He recalled the moment plainly: “Then I got arrested. I thought it was for indecency, although the girls were wearing underwear.” The charge, however, was not indecency.
Moss was taken to Great Marlborough Street Court, where he was tried and found guilty of obstructing the highway. The fine handed down was £2 — a modest sum, even by 1966 standards. Given the national press coverage and the surge of new customers the stunt had generated, it was a price Moss was more than willing to pay.
Lady Jane’s window stunt was a snapshot of the creative, boundary-pushing spirit that defined Carnaby Street in the 1960s. Shop owners on the street competed fiercely for attention in an era when fashion was moving fast and youth culture was reshaping what was considered acceptable in public spaces. Three days of two models changing clothes in a shop window managed to draw a celebrity, fill the street with crowds, and land the boutique in both the newspapers and the courts.
