Our starting point is 'Streetstyle', the groundbreaking exhibition held at the V&A in 1994, curated by Amy De La Haye, Cathie Dingwall and Ted Polhemus. On its 25th anniversary, we're looking back and considering subcultures now: how we research them, document them and seek to understand their significance in contemporary culture.
We encourage you to explore, be inspired and use our responses to spark your own.
Subcultures: Then
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The Rocker display from the ‘Streetstyle: From Sidewalk to Catwalk’ exhibition.
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Gathering information for the exhibition involved a “whole new way of collecting and we had to devise new strategies for doing it.”
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Specialist advisor (New Age Travellers) Sarah Callard in Brighton, 1993.
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“First and foremost, I’m a skinhead”: John G. Byrne’s customised Levi’s jacket.
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Acquiring a Teddy Boy suit for the exhibition was very difficult, revealing “the incredible poignancy these objects have.”
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A New Age Traveller outfit worn by Fraggle with label waiting to be taken into the gallery and dressed.
Related document
- Discover full stories behind the images and learn more about Amy's curatorial process in Subcultures: Then (PDF 5MB).
Subcultures: Now
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Image by Olivia Rose
Slashie-style: portraits and conversations
Photographer, director and artist Olivia Rose captures a series of portraits of individuals whose personal style demonstrates the hybridity and subjective meaning of contemporary streetstyle.
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Image by Amy de la Haye
Streetstyle 25 podcasts
A short podcast series featuring a diverse range of curators, students and artists sharing their stories and insights about fashion, style and subcultures.
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Photograph Terence Donovan © Terence Donovan Archive
Terence Donovan in the Que Club
An exhibition of Terence Donovan's images from the techno scene at Birmingham's Que Club.