At the V&A’s opening party for the Club to Catwalk exhibition, Chris Sullivan and its curator Claire Wilcox © Photographed by Shapersofthe80s
❚ EX-ST MARTIN’S AND WAG CLUB HOST Chris Sullivan says: “I’ll be deejay at the V&A again for next Friday’s free event. I’ll be doing a typical 80s club set from Kraftwerk to house with hip hop, rockabilly and mutant disco, to seminal electro and rare groove. It’s an evening of all sorts of shenanigans to do with the Club to Catwalk exhibition.”
The monthly Friday Late on October 25 at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum is inspired by the current exhibition Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s, which celebrates the creativity and theatricality of the capital’s dynamic fashion and club scenes. Assistant curator Kate Bethune is running a busy programme of free events, including art and design workshops, art installations, expert talks, performances and deejay sets throughout the gallery.
DIY fashionistas will discover how to make their own Scarlett Dress (named after Scarlett Cannon, 80s Cha-Cha club hostess and now “key identity” for the exhibition, seen at left) by downloading the dress pattern from the V&A’s website. An example of the toile is being displayed in the Sackler Centre on Friday evening.
Kate reports: “Our free Friday Lates tend to attract upwards of 4,000 visitors and our Club to Catwalk exhibition, London Fashion in the 1980s, continues to prove extremely popular and is averaging 5,000 visitors a week.”
➢ Back to the 80s at the V&A, October 25, 18:30–22:00
Clubbing style 1981: Sullivan’s zootsuits currently pictured in the V&A’s Club to Catwalk 80s fashion exhibition, here strutting the Axiom collective’s runway at Club for Heroes back in the day. Modelled by Solomon Mansoor and Christos Tolera, photographed by © Shapersothe80s
➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣ 
I remember it was difficult to find suits in those days, coming from Oxford we would go to Johnsons and buy two sizes bigger to get the look. American Classics or Emperor of Wyoming would have great trousers but the jackets were harder to come by. Of course looking back now I remember how fantastic people like Christos and Chris sullivan looked and how they nailed it… Its those people and that style that I remember and embrace so fondly… not the big hair and makeup that people nowadays seem to associate with the early 80s.
They always get it wrong – the bulk of us went for this look but it wasn’t half as newsworthy as the George and Sallon profiles…
The suits were transferable and I often wore Geraldo’s (Blue R a L Turk) jacket to his Zoot. I revamped a bandleader’s tails by taking off the tails. We all had a unique and self-styled way of dressing and nothing was ever too outrageous. The vintage clothing was easier to find and was dirt cheap, now it’s just overpriced rubbish and a lot of fake stuff. Mark Powell’s suits are awesome but can’t see anyone else doing much.