BACK TO THE BLITZ

Fashion expert Laura Craik goes behind the scenes of a new exhibition about the Eighties club where The most daring creatives set cultural trends

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It only existed for 18 months between 1979 and 1980, but its influence was seismic. The Blitz Club, in London's Covent Garden, was a cultural melting pot where the city's most daring creatives from the worlds of art, music, fashion and film would gather to dance, drink and look each other up and down with a discernment that would make Anna Wintour blush.

Among them were Boy George, a cloakroom attendant until he found fame with Culture Club, and Martin and Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet, whose first performance was at the venue. If your look didn't pass muster with the doorman, Steve Strange, it didn't matter who you were: you weren't coming in.

Which isn't to suggest there was a dress code per se. Designer labels alone wouldn't cut it: at Blitz, it was never about how much money you spent, and always about how much effort you'd expended. Nor was it about paying lip service to the catwalk. Blitz kids didn't follow trends. They set them.

Anyone disheartened by the current sterility of the fashion system, or the slow demise of Britain's club scene, can now relive Blitz's golden years. courtesy of a new interactive exhibition at London’s Design Museum.