Harley Street. The area that needs no explanation. It’s recognised globally as a hub for medicine and has housed some of the most influential doctors, nurses, dentists and surgeons since its humble beginnings. Even if you are not practising aesthetics in London, as a medical professional you will be very familiar with this street as a centre for cosmetic interventions. With the approach of a new decade, Aesthetics explores the evolution of the specialty and asks practitioners whether the prestige associated with the Marylebone postcode will ever change.
The grid of streets around what is now Harley Street was known as The Estate. This was owned by the Duke of Newcastle, John Holles, who passed it onto his daughter Henrietta Cavendish Holles, who married Edward Harley. In 1713, they decided to develop the streets for residential purposes and titled it Harley Street.1 However, by 1860…
