80 T he Eighties was the decade in which we discovered designer labels and power dressing – big shoulders, huge hair and sexy skirt suits. Women’s Lib paid off for a generation of young women who began to tap, in some cases thrust, a stiletto through the glass ceiling. An upturn in economic growth gave us Sloanes, yuppies, conspicuous consumption, logos, safe sex, yoof culture, gender benders, New Romantics, high glamour, androgyny, skin-tight Lycra, a right-wing government and populist left-wing politics. Fashion trends were diverse. One minute Dallas glamour, the next Fame legwarmers and a Kylie Minogue perm. Madonna flashing her bra straps led to Marks & Spencer selling out of lacy basques overnight. Despite inner city riots, strikes, racial tension, high unemployment and a threatened AIDS epidemic, creativity exploded in the Thatcher decade.
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MODERN BRITISH FASHION
Power of the slogan Red or Dead Wayne Hemingway took the Dr Martens working man’s boot and turned it into a fashion statement. From humble beginnings selling from a stall at London’s Camden Market, he revolutionised the mass-market shoe industry with his label Red or Dead. Then print graduates David Holah and Stevie Stewart of BodyMap, used Lycra in their collections. “Fashion was very bland,†remembers Holah, “there had been punk... then nothing. At the time, only sportswear or dancewear was made in Lycra. To do what we were doing and take Lycra mainstream was revolutionary. We pushed boundaries. We even made Lycra evening dresses.†BodyMap clothes celebrated the body beautiful which, in the Eighties, was happily not a size zero. “Our clothes were not just aimed at thin bodies. It was about mapping the body in a different way.†On the catwalk, Holah and Stewart paraded grandmothers, dancer Michael Clark and hip models of both sexes, including brothers Barry and Nick Kamen (the latter of the Levis 501 TV commercial in which he stripped to his boxer shorts in a launderette). As a result, BodyMap was the must-see show of London Fashion Week.
and BodyMap
Nick Kamen, left, and Red or Dead footwear, above
Margaret Thatcher meets Katharine Hamnett
Katharine Hamnett, one of the first eco fashionistas, recognised that the women who set up peace camps at Greenham Common, in protest at the deployment of cruise missiles, were gaining sympathy with young people (unlike the Tory government). In 1984, she wore an oversized T-shirt bearing the words “58% don’t want Pershing†(missiles) at a10 Downing Street event. Hamnett’s baggy Ts bearing supersized black political slogans started a phenomenon.
Between sparking several more fashion hits, including parkas, catsuits, the first “designer†denim with coloured diamante studs, sexy secretarial suits and stilettos (which killed off androgyny and Doc Martens), her message T-shirts were also used for key Eighties events, such as Band Aid (1984) and Fashion Aid (1986). A fashion soothsayer to the end, her autumn/winter 1989 collection featured T-shirts that sent out a clear message for the Nineties: “Clean up or Die.â€
A flashy display of affluence Encouraged by an affluent younger generation who needed clothes for going out (to nightclubs and wine bars) and for package holidays (to Tenerife and Crete), a new wave of wildly creative British fashion graduates rustled up a fearless and flashy wardrobe. At the core of the Brit “brat†fash pack were John Galliano, Katharine Hamnett, John Richmond, Maria Cornejo, BodyMap and Rifat Ozbek. Ozbek stood out from his peers because of his global outlook. His trademark pieces — high-waisted leggings, swirling duster coats, military jackets, lavishly embroidered boleros, Arabian harem pants and stretchy dresses — were sexy, urban, glamorous, and as popular and relevant in Los Angeles as they were in London. Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bananarama and Princess Diana were all fans. Ozbek was the first young British designer to not merely infiltrate but make his mark on the world fashion stage. Instead of looking to the street or to music, Galliano, one of the Saint Martins class of ’84, plundered costume museums
Galliano’s 1985 collection and history books for his inspiration. The result electrified the Eighties fashion scene. Galliano’s theatrical creations included trousers worn upside down that morphed into Napoleonic jackets, bias-cut slips as dresses and trailing muslin smocks. His creations and subsequent catwalk shows were as outrageous as they were romantic. Like Westwood, Galliano operated in his own sphere, doing his own thing unaffected by whatever else was going on. His revolutionary cutting techniques and use of wacky accessories (dangling fob watches, walking canes, stuffed birds, bicorn hats) soon filtered into mainstream fashion. Ultimately Galliano’s extraordinary fashion vision won him a powerful mentor, in Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who helped engineer him a plum job in world fashion. In 1999 Galliano was appointed creative director of Christian Dior in Paris and became British fashion’s greatest export since Charles Worth. Thanks to the likes of Galliano and Ozbek, London remains the launch pad for ambitious designers seeking international fashion stardom.
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MODERN BRITISH The Daily Telegraph Saturday, November 1, 2008 telegraph.co.uk /gordonsgin In association with
The tapestry of our lives W hat we wear reflects the society in which we live. Hence, the British style and pop explosions that shook the world in the Sixties mirrored a new, carefree and affluent post-war era. Young people no longer looked to their elders for sartorial guidance but had the freedo
60 W hether it’s superlashed Twiggy in Mary Quant’s PVC creations, or kids streaming up and down Carnaby Street, pick any image from the Sixties and you will see in it the essence of British fashion: the point where popular culture, street style and creative vision collide. The post-war economic
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MODERN BRITISH FASHION Twiggy Michael Fish and, from top right, Carnaby Street and Granny Takes A Trip The march of the mods The “mod†or “modernist†style of the Sixties was adopted by newly fashion-obsessed young men who wanted to emulate stylish Europeans, such
70 A s the Seventies dawned, the naive exuberance of Sixties fashion transformed into a “designer†scene. Teenagers who had fuelled the style revolution were a little older, wiser and more sophisticated in their choices. Rock stars such as David Bowie and Marc Bolan sported flamboyant get-ups wi
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MODERN BRITISH FASHION Happy hippies at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival; right, Tommy Nutter Suited and booted The hippy style of US bands such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Mamas & the Papas, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane had made its mark on British fashio
advertisement feature Always in fashion Ever since Alexander Gordon opened his Southwark distillery in 1769, Gordon’s gin has been appreciated all over the world by those with style. Alongside its definitive clean, dry taste – derived from a secret recipe – Gordon’s has long been famous for
advertisement feature 1924 1932 1943 1994 1998 2002 The GORDON’S AND GORDON’S THE GIN G&T words and associated logos are trade marks. © Tanqueray Gordon & Co. 2008
80 T he Eighties was the decade in which we discovered designer labels and power dressing – big shoulders, huge hair and sexy skirt suits. Women’s Lib paid off for a generation of young women who began to tap, in some cases thrust, a stiletto through the glass ceiling. An upturn in economic grow
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MODERN BRITISH FASHION Naomi sashays in New British fashions required a fresh face. Along came Naomi Campbell from Streatham, south London, who began modelling as a teenager and is still going rather too strong two decades later. Beautiful, British and black, with a great bo
90 W ith interest rates about to reach eye-watering levels, recession creeping in and a Gulf War on the horizon, the glam, opulent fashions of the Eighties seemed to date overnight. As if keen to separate itself from the “loadsamoney†excesses of the previous decade, the fashion world entered a
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MODERN BRITISH FASHION Sartorial shock and awe Born in the East End and trained in Savile Row, Alexander McQueen heralded a new era of Cool Britannia with his tough-edged tailoring style, which made fashion headlines in the Nineties. Beginning where Vivienne Westwood’s ear
00 M ilan, Paris and New York may still be the key commercial centres of the global fashion industry but, when it comes to new ideas and visionary thinking, British design talent is, as ever, in pole position. Currently at the helm are the two Scottish designers, Christopher Kane and Jonathan Saunde
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MODERN BRITISH FASHION Christopher Kane Kane is most able At 26, Christopher Kane is the undoubted current star of British fashion. The Motherwellborn, Central Saint Martinstrained fashion designer rates everything from Tippex to Crocodile Dundee as inspiration. His designs
