Artist Info
Lee Bender
Lee Bender trained at St Martins School of Art and London ‘School of Fashion’
She founded Bus Stop with her husband Cecil as a retail outlet for his manufacturing business in 1968, before moving it to a former grocery store on Kensington Church Street, next door to Biba in 1969. According to Bender, “We chose the name ‘Bus Stop’ because it was so identifiably British; and red because it was the colour of telephone kiosks, pillar boxes, and London buses. Bus Stop was able to produce well-designed pieces that were made in its own factory, bringing designer styling to the high street, at prices that everyone could afford.
Lee worked on her designs in a studio in Kensington Church Walk, behind the shop. She aimed to produce collections of stock that could be mixed and matched - the concept of co-ordinates had rarely been envisaged before their launch, so Bus Stop was something of a pioneer in this area. Tops, jackets, coats and sweaters were produced as matching ensembles, with the opportunity to purchase trousers, dresses, skirts and accessories to combine with your outfit or wear as separates. Alongside, you could find all manner of accessories from scarves, hats, belts and bags, to resin jewellery made by pop star Adam Ant (who was studying at art college at the time).
Bus Stop pioneered the revivals of Fair Isle knits and tartan; it went through phases of jumpsuits and culottes, military and safari, asymmetrical tops and 1940s shoulders, bikinis, Op Art and florals, cheesecloth and seersucker, fake fur and satin as well as countless other crazes over the course of its ten-year reign.
Bus Stop designs were always beautifully tailored and flattering to wear. Joan Collins, a celebrity customer of Bus Stop, named Lee Bender as one of her favourite designers, claiming "She designs clothes for ladies with boobs and bums". Other famous customers included Brigitte Bardot, Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Boyd, Angie Bowie and Nina Simone - quite a star-studded clientele. In 1977 Bus Stop began producing lines for the Grattan mail order catalogue, so girls all over the country could purchase the latest trends without having to travel to the nearest shop. In the ten years from 1969 to 1979, Bus Stop became a chain of twelve stores within the UK, and even expanded into the USA, Amsterdam, Canada and Japan. The chain was bought by 'French Connection' in 1979, and in the early 1980s Lee and Cecil Bender opened the London boutique 'Arcade' in Knightsbridge, which closed in 1982.