1980s Fashion Making A(nother) Comeback

posted on 16 April 2009 | posted in Trends

The 1980s were a boom time - now we're in a deep recession. Despite the economic differences, 1980s fashion is making a comeback.

We are deep in a 1980s renaissance, from décor (Philippe Starck) to music (The Pet Shop Boys and Grace Jones) and, of course, fashion. This season, designers Jeremy Scott, Marc Jacobs, Gucci’s Frida Giannini, Martin Margiela and Proenza Schouler all riffed indulgently on classic Carlos Montana, Thierry Mugler, Azzedine Alaïa, Issey Miyake and early Jean Paul Gaultier, with sculptural silhouettes, striking colours, boy suits, little punk boots and big belts similar to the ones I used to wear. It might be a scary concept to some, except, as Miyake notes: “There are no designs or ideas that are not taken from the past. It is our job as creators to take those ideas, apply them to the time in which we live, and create something new – a hybrid.”