From Club to Catwalk: fashion in 1980s London

From Club to Catwalk: fashion in 1980s London is a review of fashion innovation in London during a particularly vibrant, creative period. The book will focus on the fashion design and its related partners of this formative decade during which London’s fashion industry developed into a viable market to showcase promote and sell British fashion. The 1980s was the decade in which London’s flamboyant, sometimes political often controversial fashions ensured that the city became a truly international fashion capital. While this publication will focus primarily on the fashions created during the decade, through examinations of music, graphic design and the business of fashion, the project aims to chart the social, economic and aesthetic connections made between fashion and the broader culture from the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s. Introduction: Sonnet Stanfill 1. Overview: Sonnet Stanfill The first section will use roughly 20 ensembles from the V&A’s collection as case studies to chronicle London’s development as a fashion city in the 1980s. These objects will chart the key moments of leading design of the period and will include examples designed by key makers of the period. 2. Womenswear and Menswear sections: Wendy Dagworthy OBE and Sir Paul Smith There will then follow a section on womenswear (author: Wendy Dagworthy), and menswear (Paul Smith) written from the perspective of designers operating at the time. These sections will incorporate the voices of two key practitioners of the period, who will chart the progress of their businesses, both of which became viable and internationally recognised during this decade. 3. Fashion Accessories: Daniel Milford-Cottam Fashion accessories are a vital element in finishing an ensemble. A number of British makers operating in the 1980s created shoe, bag and hat designs which received international attention. There are a number of examples in the V&A’s own collection which can be highlighted. 4. Fashion illustration, photograph and graphic design: Abraham Thomas Along with the preceding section, this chapter will widen the publication’s focus beyond fashion to the broader culture and will investigate the 2-D material such as fashion illustration, photography and graphic design created in London during the 1980s. Examples drawn from the Word and Image Collection will be included. 5. Fashion and Music: Shaun Cole This section will reference London’s vibrant club scene, which was both the site of important sartorial experimentation and the music which served as its vital partner. Areas which may be covered include: Blitz and the New Romantics, The Batcave and the Goths, Beat Route and Latin/funk zootsuits, Taboo and grotesque individuality Rockabilly Revival and others. V&A Publishing Co-Authors 1. Introductory essay, using 20 V&A outfits/objects as a guide to the period (5000 words) – Sonnet Stanfill. 2. Womenswear – practioner’s point of view – Wendy Dagworthy (2000 words) 3. Menswear – practitioner’s point of view – Paul Smith or other (2000 words) 4. Fashion accessories a brief survey – Daniel Milford-Cottam (2000 words) 5. Fashion illustration and graphic design – practitioner’s point of view – Abraham Thomas (2000 words) 6. Fashion and music – Shaun Cole (3-4000 words)