Exactly 50 years ago, during the long, hot summer of 1976, Bennie Gray opened Alfies Antique Market in a rambling old department store on Church Street, Marylebone.
The market has since become London’s largest and most iconic antiques hub - the go-to destination for costume, fashion and set designers, collectors, and an array of celebrity clientele including Billie Eilish, Lily Allen and the Beckhams, to name a few.
I moved into my Ground Floor booth on 1st of June 2026. Woo hoo!
Half a century later, some of the 80 original antique dealers are still there. Perhaps, like royalty and [usually] the Pope, antique dealers never retire - they eventually die on the job. From archival and vintage fashion to 20th-century design, rare costume jewellery, vintage punk memorabilia, and photography, the market’s offerings reflect the decades of expertise housed across its five floors.
This summer, on Thursday the 9th of July, Alfies Antique Market will commemorate its 50th birthday with a theatrical party marking half a century of antiques, design, craftsmanship, collecting, and the preservation of the last flickers of London’s 20th-century bohemia.
The celebrations will echo the spirit of the original 1976 opening, and welcome in the next 50 years of nurturing London’s new-wave of antiques dealers.
According to silver dealer Eamonn Perris, who joined Alfies in 1976: “What’s kept Alfies alive for fifty years is the people. The dealers here care deeply about what they do, and that passion has turned the market into a real living history of design. And of course, none of it would be what it is today without Bennie Gray.”
For fifty years, Alfies has thrived as an independent London institution.
While the 50th birthday reflects on five remarkable decades, it also marks the beginning of a new chapter for the market. Alongside long-established dealers, Alfies is increasingly championing a younger generation of traders, collectors, makers and pop-up exhibitors shaping a new wave of antiques culture in London. “We've enjoyed the last 50 years and plan to enjoy the next.” - Bennie Gray
RSVP - audra@audrasbrooches.com
Thursday 7 July 2026 / 17:00-20:00
All mistakes author's own.
June 2026