ALISON BOSHOFF: Iconic Sixties fashion label folds – but has Mick Jagger lost his (designer) shirt over it?

Granny Takes A Trip was the legendary King’s Road boutique where the Stones, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix bought their velvet jackets during the truly turbulent 60s.

It closed its doors in the seventies but relaunched as an online store in the spring of 2024, with the approval of the original founders and financial backing from Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood.

Shoppers could purchase and rent new and vintage pieces. Prices were high; monthly rent was £465 for a skirt, £235 for a vintage bomber jacket and £75 for a lacy T-shirt.

Unfortunately, the business now appears to have closed as the website is not operational.

Visitors are greeted with the following message: ‘This store is currently unavailable due to maintenance. It will be available again soon. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.’

A source said: ‘Mick is said to have invested £1 million into the business last year in a bid to make Granny Takes A Trip happen. However, the prices were too high and I don’t think the launch was managed very well.

‘It wasn’t marketed very well either and now I hear the business is floundering. As well as Mick, it was also supported by a consortium involved in Exhibitionism, the Rolling Stones exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery.’

Jagger’s spokesman did not want to comment. However, another source was skeptical of the claim that the famously ‘careful’ singer could be so surprised.

The startup’s CEO, Marlot te Kiefte, did not respond to requests for comment on Grandma’s fate. But he and the business’s lead designer, Phoebe Button, recently founded a startup called Parasite Ventures.

Te Kiefte states on LinkedIn that his relationship with Granny lasted from November 2022 to August 2024.

The store was opened in 1966 by graphic designer Nigel Waymouth, vintage clothing collector Sheila Cohen and mod tailor John Pearse. They explored the markets and transformed what they found into flashy new looks.

Waymouth said: ‘We would often find an old roll of fabric we loved and then decide what to do with it.

‘Everything we created was unique and we didn’t separate men from women so everything was on one track, which I think gave people a sense of individuality and freedom.’

The business was sold to entrepreneur Freddie Hornik in 1969, and he opened outposts in Los Angeles and New York before closing up shop in the 1970s.

Investors tried several times to persuade Waymouth to allow the name to be used for a new Grandmother.

In an interview before the relaunch, he said: ‘I always kept in mind that this was a moment that could never be successfully created again.

‘But Marlot insisted on respecting Granny’s past without trying to repeat what we had done.’

Practice makes perfect for Timothee

There was great reaction to this week’s surprise premiere of Marty Supreme, the ping pong movie starring Timothee Chalamet.

The film premiered at the New York Film Festival, and critics described Chalamet’s portrayal of table tennis champion Marty Mauser as the ‘best performance of his career’.

It’s preparing us for a clash of heartaches: Timothee versus One Battle star Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars next spring.

Marty Supreme is based on the true story of Marty Reisman, a big name in New York’s table tennis scene.

Chalamet prepared for the film by starting ping-pong lessons in New York in 2018. During Covid, he put a full-size desk in his apartment.

He described the practice as his ‘secret’. When I was making ‘Wonka’ I had a desk in London. In Dune 2, I had a table in Budapest. [and] Jordan. I had a table in Abu Dhabi. ‘I had a table at the Cannes Film Festival for The French Dispatch.’

The picture opens here on Boxing Day.

Timothee Chalamet attends the photo call during the 70th David Di Donatello held at Cinecitta Studios on May 07, 2025

I’m playing Fergie but I won’t be promoting her

Actress Natalie Dormer has announced that she will not be doing any promotional work for her new ITV series The Lady, in which she plays The Duchess of York.

And he’s donating his fee to charity because he’s appalled by Fergie’s ties to late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

But I can say that the network will not shelve the project. A source says Dormer is not the lead; That’s Mia McKenna-Bruce, who plays Jane Andrews, Fergie’s former dresser who was imprisoned for the murder of her boyfriend, Thomas Cressman.

The series was produced by The Crown producer Left Bank Pictures and will be released next year. Producers have been in contact with Cressman’s family. I was told: ‘No one can really understand why Natalie decided to do this, as everyone knows about Fergie and her connections to Epstein.’

The 43-year-old star of Game of Thrones (left) said in his statement: “New information has emerged that makes it impossible for me to reconcile my values ​​with Sarah Ferguson’s behavior” and “I will not take part in the promotion of the project.”

She added: ‘In keeping with my commitment to the welfare of children, I donated my entire salary from this project to the National Association of Childhood Exploited People (NAPAC) and the Center of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse.’

Actress Natalie Dormer has announced that she will not be doing any promotional work for her new ITV series The Lady, in which she plays The Duchess of York.

And he’s donating his fee to charity because he’s appalled by Fergie’s (photo taken in Washington DC) ties to the late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Hollywood’s most disgusting divorce took a strange twist

Hollywood’s worst divorce has now gotten personal: Ioan Gruffudd will represent himself in court as the fallout from his split from actress Alice Evans continues.

On October 2, Gruffudd filed a ‘change of attorney’ notice with the Los Angeles Superior Court, making clear that he would represent himself.

In August, Gruffudd’s lawyer, Matt Russakow, requested to be ‘dismissed as a lawyer’ due to ‘an irreconcilable breakdown of the lawyer-client relationship’.

Russakow represented the Welsh actor in his bid to expand the DVRO (Domestic Violence Restraining Order).

Gruffudd took out an order against Evans after he sent her hundreds of text messages and tweets in 2022.

He wants to expand on this by claiming that the woman continued to harass him and bombarded him with another 5,000 social media messages, which he denies.

Russakow resigned after Gruffudd made public a series of text messages, ostensibly from his daughters Ella and Elsie, accusing him of not helping them when they were being evicted from their home for unpaid rent. Gruffudd claims the messages were written by his ex-girlfriend.

In one of them, 15-year-old Ella wrote: ‘You left us and you can’t take care of us anymore.

Actor Ioan Gruffud and ex-wife Alice Evans arrive at the Path 2 Parenthood Annual Gala on April 5, 2016

‘You need to find a job, dad. Taking care of your girlfriend is not a job. You are a father who abandoned his children and does not see them or talk to them. You don’t even send Christmas gifts. It’s so pathetic and everyone sees you. PS: If there’s enough money for us to never be homeless then why don’t you help us? ‘You hate my mother more than you love us.’

A mediation settlement conference will be held in December and will likely last a week in court next year if the two cannot reach an agreement on child and spousal support and whether the restraining order should be rescinded or extended.

(Gruffudd still has a lawyer representing him on the financial front.)

The Fantastic Four and Hornblower actor, 52, attended court last month with his new wife Bianca, 33, who is pregnant.

He dumped Alice in January 2021, and he and Bianca went public with their romance in October of that year. Bianca categorically denies there was any romance between them before their split.

Ioan and Alice met on the set of 102 Dalmatians and have been legally divorced for two years. Alice, 57, has custody of the children, and the three live in modest circumstances in California’s San Fernando Valley.

Corre starts with hearts of gold

Coronation Street stalwarts William Roache and Barbara Knox are to be honored by the Golden Heart Awards with showbiz charity Variety.

On October 19, Roache, who has played Ken Barlow since the first episode in 1960, and Knox, who has played Rita Tanner since 1964, will receive their awards for their outstanding contributions to television at a ceremony in London hosted by actor Mark Wright and TV presenter Katie Piper. Roache (above with Knox) ​​is 93 and has an OBE. Knox, 92, has an MBE.

Also honored were Ant and Dec, Sir Stephen Fry and 92-year-old singer Petula Clark. The Variety charity, chaired by Professor Jonathan Shalit, celebrated its 75th anniversary last year and works to improve the lives of disabled and disadvantaged children.