As Seen in Blitz

Description

1980s fashion and culture, as seen on the deeply influential pages of Blitz, the pioneering '80s style magazine. In London at the start of the 1980s, three new style magazines emerged to define an era. It was a time of change: after Punk, before the digital age, and at the dawn of a hedonistic club scene that saw the birth of the New Romantics. On the pages of Blitz, The Face and i-D, a new breed of young iconoclasts hoped to inspire revolution. As Blitz magazine's fashion editor from 1982-87, Iain R. Webb was at the centre of this world. His images manipulated fashion to explore ideas of transformation, beauty, glamour and sex. The magazine's arresting, subversive fashion pages, and its profiles of disparate designers and creative types, let the imagination run free. Lavishly presented here are over 100 Blitz fashion stories, with unseen archive content, original images and tear-sheets. A separate section features original Blitz interviews with the key designers, and a vast amount of completely new material: Iain R. Webb has gathered the memories of those involved into a gripping oral history of an under-documented time. The cast of characters and contributors includes: Leigh Bowery, Amanda Cazalet, Boy George, Princess Julia, Nick Knight, David LaChapelle, Paul Morley and Anna Piaggi. Featured designers include Bodymap, Judy Blame, Dean Bright, Comme Des Garcons, Jasper Conran, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Katharine Hamnett, Hermes, Pam Hogg, Marc Jacobs, Stephen Jones, Calvin Klein, Andrew Logan, Issey Miyake, Franco Moschino, Rifat Ozbek, Antony Price, Vivienne Westwood, and more. AUTHOR: Iain R. Webb is Professor of Fashion at Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins. During his career he has been fashion editor/director of Blitz, The Evening Standard, Harpers & Queen, The Times and Elle. He won the Fashion Journalist of The Year Award two years running in 1995 and 1996. A respected fashion writer, he is the author of Foale and Tuffin: The Sixties. A Decade in Fashion, ISBN 9781851496068 and Postcards From the Edge of the Catwalk ISBN 9781851496471. 150 colour and 100 b/w illustrations

Iain R. Webb studied fashion design at St Martin's School of Art (now Central Saint Martins), graduating in 1980. During his career he has been fashion editor/director of 'BLITZ', 'The Evening Standard', 'Harpers & Queen', 'The Times' and 'Elle', while contributing to publications including 'New Musical Express', 'New York Times', 'The Independent' and 'Vogue'. He won the Fashion Journalist of The Year Award two years running in 1995 and 1996. A respected fashion writer, he is the author of 'Bill Gibb, Fashion and Fantasy'; 'Foale and Tuffin: The Sixties. A Decade in Fashion', ISBN: 9781851496068 and 'Postcards From the Edge of the Catwalk' ISBN: 9781851496471. He acts as a consultant at the Fashion Museum, Bath and is Professor of Fashion at Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins.

[The book] revisits more than 100 stories from the iconic London fashion magazine that charted the decade's image-conscious lives and sartorial inventions. I lived through it, and I'm here to tell what a fun romp it all was... you'll just have to acquire this tome to get the full story. -- Hamish Bowles VOGUE BLITZ provided a beautiful flamboyance in the '80s... When you and I met up it was an eye-opening moment for me. You showed me a life that was different to how I had perceived it. -- Nick Knight, creative consultant for the exhibition PUNK: Chaos to Couture If you're feeling the post-Met Gala punk burnout, we've got just the thing for you: As Seen in BLITZ, out this month, chronicles the New Romantic period in fashion, which directly followed punk. The book, as the title suggests, gives readers an inside glimpse into the early '80s as captured in the pages of Blitz magazine. -- Tyler McCall Fashionista.com Love this new book BLITZ by Iain R. Webb from his days as the fashion editor of the London magazine that launched in the '80s around the same time as The Face and i-D. Ian was their fashion editor from 1982 to 1987 and the book is packed with old shoots and articles. Champagne and Heels A compilation of the 1980s British style magazine's greatest hits, this annotated compendium also includes interviews with the editors, photographers, makeup artists, and models who gave readers an unconventional glimpse into fashion's innermost circles and outlandish fringes. Out Magazine, May 30, 2013 If you love all things and fashion and want to see what it truly meant to be cutting edge as well as being prescient in the world of fashion, As Seen in BLITZ is the book you must dash out and purchase. New York Journal of Books, June 16, 2013