Shoho London
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[edit] 'ShoHo' or 'Hoxditch'
Hoxton and Shoreditch are often deliberately or unwittingly conflated, and the portmanteau designations "ShoHo" and "Hoxditch" are sometimes used. The two districts have a historical link as part of the same manor, and in the 19th century both formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch. This was subsumed into the London Borough of Hackney in 1965, but old street signs bearing the name still occur throughout the area.
Manufacturing developments in the years after the Second World War meant that many of the small industries that characterised Hoxton moved out. By the early 1980s, these industrial lofts and buildings came to be occupied by young artists as inexpensive live/work spaces, while art happenings, raves and clubs occupied former office and retail space at the beginning of the 1990s. The area became renowned for artists and the things they enjoyed doing. During this time the pubs on Rivington Street were the nexus for the Young British Artist scene. Curtain Road Arts was founded and Joshua Compston established his Factual Nonsense gallery on Charlotte Road and organised art fetes on Hoxton Square. Their presence gradually drew other creative people into the area, especially magazines, design firms, and dot-coms.
By the end of the 20th century, Hoxton had become a vibrant arts and entertainment district boasting a large number of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and art galleries. In this period, the new Hoxton residents could be identified by their obscurely fashionable (or "ironically" unfashionable) clothes and their hair (the so-called "Hoxton Fin", as exemplified by Fran Healy of Travis).
Hoxton (and Shoreditch) denizens have been satirised in the satirical magazine Shoreditch Twat, on the TVGoHome website, and in its sitcom incarnation Nathan Barley. In recent years, Shoreditch and Hoxton have been home to pop musicians Jarvis Cocker and Future Sound of London, fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and artists Gavin Turk and Jake and Dinos Chapman, along with actor Gael Garcia Bernal. The focal point in the area is Hoxton Square, a small park bordered mainly by industrial buildings.
As property developers moved in to cash in on the area's trendy image, prices rose steeply. In response, the local council formed a not-for-profit corporation, Shoreditch Our Way (ShOW), to buy local buildings and lease them out as community facilities and housing.
Recently, Hoxton has been associated to some extent with the New Rave scene, being referenced by the Guardian newspaper[1] in connection with the scene, as well as in the lyrics of bands linked to the scene.
The extension of the East London Line (completion in 2010), will again provide local rail access, which was lost when the Broad Street approach closed to services.
