18 Mar 2025
To accompany Bonington Vitrines #27: Nottingham Subcultural Fashion in the 1980s we are delighted to present a suite of specially commissioned essays by writer Ian Trowell. These describe and discuss in detail the conditions and key attributes of what defined that time – the designers, bands, night clubs and publications – as well as contextualising and positioning what was happening in Nottingham and the region against what was occurring nationally and beyond.
Visit the links below to read each annotated essay, or alternatively you can download a PDF here with accompanying image poster available here. Design by Jess Harris.
A limited number of printed versions will be available from the gallery during the exhibition.
Essay 0.1 – music newspapers, market stalls, stashed carrier bags
Essay 1.1 – bedrooms and living rooms, towns and cities
Essay 1.2 – shopping in the margins
Essay 1.3 – everyday places
Essay 2.1 – rival tribal rebel revel
Essay 2.2 – pop worlds
Essay 3.1 – night people
Essay 3.2 – futurist manifesto
Essay 3.3 – on suits
Essay 4.1 – mentioned in Déspatch