The rise of Britain’s woke members’ clubs
Out with cocaine-fuelled hedonism, in with gender politics
NAMED AFTER Marx, who famously did not want to belong to any club that would accept him as a member, the Groucho sold itself as the “antidote” to the gentlemen’s clubs of London’s St James’s district when it opened in 1985. With a heavy drinking culture, artistic spirit and cocaine-driven largesse, the club captured the zeitgeist. Of late it has been swept up in Soho’s commercialisation, and is now owned by a private-equity firm. Despite offering reduced fees for under-30s and a vegan menu, it is not the magnet for youth it once was.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “More woke than coke”
Britain February 22nd 2020
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