From Club to Catwalk, new V&A fashion exhibition

A new exhibition called 'Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s' will open at the V&A museum this week. Focusing on the club-inspired styles of London in the 1980s, more than 85 outfits will be shown, by experimental young

designers of the era, 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.

The 80s brought infectious vibe for designers and club kids

The ’80s saw the explosion of the London club scene with specialist club ‘nights’ offering 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’.

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'.

The exhibition will run at the Victoria & Albert Museum until 16 February 2014.

Images: The Face magazine cover, The Cloth