Playboy chicks at Harvey Nicks

Published on Saturday 4 February 2006 12:48

IT has become a magnet for the Capital's most well-heeled female visitors.

But in a bid to lure more men into the store, Harvey Nichols is set to stage a major new exhibition - of 1960s Playboy covers.

Retro-chic pictures to be unveiled in the menswear department show scantily clad models alongside stars from the sixties such as Michael Caine and The Beatles.

Images of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in a psychedelic shirt with Swinging Sixties playmates will also don the walls of the menswear department, giving a glimpse of life in the Playboy mansion.

And bosses at Harvey Nicks are banking on the attention the photos will attract converting into bumper sales.

Today experts in male beauty and fashion said they thought the Playboy moniker had lost none of its appeal over the years.

The exhibition of more than 30 pictures from the early days of Playboy is designed to attract even the most reluctant male shoppers.

Intimate snapshots of the Playboy world will chart the glamour of the Playboy "good life" since it began in 1953, paying tribute to its founder Hugh Hefner.

Annette Lamb from Harvey Nichols said the style depicted in the photographs had come the full circle of fashion.

She said: "They are very retro-chic. Some of the photos are quite risque. They are very sexy images which have stood the test of time well."

Ms Lamb said she expected many people to come to the store out of sheer curiosity and said that the images would tie in well with their Playboy clothes range.

She added: "It's hard to get men to go shopping so hopefully this will be an added draw."

Phil MacHugh, an Edinburgh-based television presenter and doyen of all the hippest parties, said the Playboy label was still fashionable.

He said: "The Playboy brand is always successful. People are interested to see what kind of thing went on in the Playboy mansion and every guy likes to see a bit of flesh.

"Edinburgh stores have to get rid of their twee Morningside image and recognise that there are lots of trendy bars here nowadays and a lot of rich kids with spending power who are impressed by things like Playboy."

The 21-year-old added that the exhibition fitted well with the current trend for the retro look.

"The retro image is well in - tight jeans, bright 1960s colours, reds and yellows are all back for men."

Bob Thomson, 26, who is just about to launch a website devoted to male beauty products, said modern men were much more comfortable with shopping and the Playboy image was timeless.

Mr Thomson, who already runs Beauty Sleuth, a website devoted to female grooming products, said: "I don't think these images are dated. The Playboy logo is in at the moment, particularly from that period.

"Modern men are more comfortable shopping and are suckers for gimmicks to get them in."

The snaps from the world's best known erotic magazine have arrived fresh from the Knightsbridge HQ on a tour of Harvey Nichols branches.

Playboy Exposed is set to open tomorrow and organisers say they hope it will attract plenty of French men in Edinburgh for the rugby.

The pictures will be on show for a fortnight before heading for the store's new Dublin outlet.