OUTLAWS: FASHION RENEGADES OF 80s LONDON 
Fashion and Textile Museum, London
October 04, 2024 – March 09, 2025 

Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London focuses on the year the legendary nightclub Taboo was opened by designer and performance artist Leigh Bowery, in 1985. A tiny club in the corner of Leicester Square that lasted barely a year, Taboo provoked an extraordinary explosion of fashion designers, artists, writers, performers and filmmakers.

Displaying original garments and accessories from Leigh and over thirty collections, photography, film and artworks, the exhibition focuses on this outrageous, alternative arena where the anarchic energy of the night spilt over into the experimental creativity of the day. The downstairs galleries take us to 1980s London with its squat life, markets and the dance floor at Taboo, whilst the upstairs galleries focus on the style media, boutique owners and popstars, who were instrumental in giving the designers an international platform. 

This is the first exhibition to explore the range of designers and creatives associated with Taboo, many of whom have been forgotten or died tragically young. Although Taboo was short-lived, the exhibition will bring to light a creative community of people who together influenced and changed the landscape of British popular culture in the mid-1980s. With items on display ranging from a graphic jacket worn by Boy George and designed by Dean Bright to a carpet coat by Mark and Syrie, a yellow shower curtain cape worn by Nicola Bowery and a gold suit designed by Stephen Linard, the exhibition showcases radical designs by fearlessly alternative designers. 

As we go into the night, the club section features a recreation of the legendary dance floor at Taboo, styled by performance artist and club kid David Cabaret and using original Adel Roostein mannequins from his collection. The Taboo dance floor will showcase real characters from the Taboo scene and feature clothes designed and worn by Leigh Bowery alongside outfits worn by Dave Cabaret, Nicola Bowery, Trojan and Sue Tilley. Highlights include a red and green spotted coat with a giant collar made for Michael Clark by Leigh Bowery and David Cabaret’s infamous Bumps Outfit, a fusion of sci-fi and op art, it features a black and white catsuit panelled and stuffed with foam. 

more. www.ashiontextilemuseum.org