Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s exhibition at the V&A
An exhibition of garments and outfits influenced by London's clubbing scene in the 1980s opens this week at the V&A museum.
Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s at the V&A in London will showcase of over 85 outfits by designers including Betty Jackson and John Galliano, tracing the infiltration of club wear into runway shows through the decade.
The exhibition will look back at the creative influence on fashion from the music and culture of London's nightlife, from small venues like Blitz and the Club for Heroes to larger establishments including the Camden Palace, now known as KOKO.
Many young designers visiting these clubs studied at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art, which offered comprehensive technical training and championed individual expression.
Eighties clothing became heavily personalised, embellished with fringe and frills or printed with bold patterns and blunt slogans.
During this era, London designers began showing their collections in cities such as New York and Tokyo. Garments from these international shows will be presented across the two floors of the exhibition.
New Romantic and High Camp outfits worn by icons of the decade such as performers Adam Ant and Leigh Bowery will also be on display.
In addition, the exhibition will explore how magazines like i-D and Blitz focussed on these bold and experimental designs.
A series of talks and workshops are scheduled to coincide with the exhibition, which opens on 10 July 2013 and runs until 16 February 2014.
Other fashion exhibitions open over the summer include a retrospective of work by Iris van Herpen in Calais and exhibition charting punk's influence on high fashion in New York.
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Read on for more information from the museum:
Discover the creative explosion of London fashion in the 1980s in a major exhibition at the V&A. Through more than 85 outfits, Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s showcases the bold and exciting new looks by the most experimental young designers of the decade, including Betty Jackson, Katharine Hamnett, Wendy Dagworthy and John Galliano.
The exhibition traces the emerging theatricality in British fashion as the capital’s vibrant and eclectic club scene influenced a new generation of designers. Also celebrating iconic styles such as New Romantic and High Camp, and featuring outfits worn by Adam Ant and Leigh Bowery, the exhibition explores how the creative relationship between catwalk and club wear helped reinvent fashion, as reflected in magazines such as i-D and Blitz and venues including Heaven and Taboo.
Club
The 80s saw the explosion of the London club scene. Specialist club 'nights' offered opportunities for dressing up in the company of a like-minded crowd. Stevie Stewart of BodyMap explained that 'each group of people, whether they were fashion designers, musicians or dancers, filmmakers, living together and going out together had a passion for creating something new that was almost infectious'.
Early clubs such as Billy's, Blitz and the Club for Heroes were small and attracted a selective crowd. As the decade progressed, venues such as the Camden Palace and one-off warehouse parties began to attract much larger audiences. Although less intimate, they perpetuated the creative link between music, club and catwalk. This symbiotic relationship remained the defining characteristic of 1980s style.
Catwalk
In the early 80s, London fashion began to create a stir internationally. Fashion shows took place in New York and Japan. One breakthrough event, titled 'London Goes to Tokyo', included many of the designers featured here and in the upstairs gallery.
The inventiveness of London design owed much to the excellence of the city's arts education. Colleges such as St Martin's, the Royal College of Art and Hornsey College of Art offered advanced training in the fundamentals of fashion design, while also encouraging individuality.
At night, young designers' imaginations were sparked by a vibrant London club scene. John Galliano recalled, 'Thursday and Friday at St Martin's, the college was almost deserted. Everybody was at home working on their costumes for the weekend'. Designer Georgina Godley remembers, 'Young London was all about taking risks and creating something out of nothing through passion and ambition'.