80s fashion revival

Acting almost as a sequel to the sold-out success , the Club to Catwalk exhibit takes a trip back in time to the brash and unapologetic club scene of the 1980s with an exciting retrospective of vintage designs.

Last night, we were there for a first look at the V&A's new exhibition. A nostalgic, mixed crowd of club veterans sipped champagne and virgin mojitos alongside a post-rave generation, dressed in full faux eighties attire.

Drinks flowed and a DJ raged in true clubbing style, whilst we were treated to a speech by Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, who regaled tales of his own eighties’ experiences and first memories of fashion.

This was a decade defined by the aftermath of the punk era and the first explosion of rave culture. There was a unanimous link between club fashions and catwalk trends.

Vibrant, eclectic, new style icons like Adam Ant, Leigh Bowery and Boy George paved the way for personality dressing – embracing the graphic prints and embellished designs that would become an eighties’ trademark.

The 80s also established a new army of creative designers, as the careers of Katharine Hamnett and Wendy Dagworthy took off.

John Galliano and Pam Hogg attended St. Martins and Royal College of Art by day, before morphing into creatures of the night at clubs like Taboo and Heaven.

Their looks were documented in magazines like