‘The 1980s turned out to be magic': David Bailey on the era of excess

The Guardian

11-03-2025

In the 1980s, fashion wanted to make a statement and found in legendary British fashion photographer David Bailey its perfect chronicler. After Bailey shaped the style of the swinging 60s, fashion in the 80s posed a new challenge. A new book showcases his take on the decade of decadence. Eighties by David Bailey is available via Taschen. All photos: David Bailey
The book compiles Bailey's era-defining fashion photography from the pages of Vogue, Tatler and countless other publications. As Bailey says in his foreword: 'The 80s turned out to be magic.' Here, that magic comes alive
Bailey's photos feature couture, catwalk and ready-to-wear collections by the epoch's seminal designers, including Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, Guy Laroche, Missoni, Stephen Jones, Valentino, and Yves Saint Laurent
David Bailey: 'The magic of the 80s came as a surprise and possibly turned out to be the most amazing time in London to lead the world in fashion. It was the first time the Americans wanted to come to London instead of Londoners wanting to go to New York. It seemed like London was getting a second chance in fashion, art, theatre and cinema. After years of stagnation it had become a centre for the arts'
' In fashion we had the faces of Jerry Hall, Marie Helvin, Catherine Dyer and Christy Turlington on the pages of our magazines. Whereas models used to go to New York to get photographed by the great American photographers, suddenly they realised they could save their fare by staying in London and getting it done there. So a new wave of models from Paris, Milan, New York, etc, turned towards London'
The decade still resonates on our screens, runways and concert stages, which makes today ideal for revisiting its enduring legacy of maximalism and excess. Icons are captured at their most playful, invincible and provocatively sexy. The book stands as a testament to a decade that dismantled hierarchies of taste to reintroduce fun and sex into fashion, reminding us that we need not think of either as dirty words
In the second foreword, Grace Coddington writes: 'Bailey jumped right into this new vibe with his bold and often humorous portraits of the personalities of the time such as Grace Jones, David Bowie, Jack Nicholson and Tina Turner'
Editor Reuel Golden writes: 'Princess Diana photographed in Bailey's classic minimalist, no frills style against a plain background for the National Portrait Gallery. It's almost the anthesis of the excesses of 1980s fashion and perhaps explains why the 'unplugged' Diana is looking somewhat warily at the camera'
Golden: 'The American model and actress Lauren Hutton had worked with Bailey in the 1960s and 70s. Her effortless elegance and 'it girl' credentials made her a perfect muse for him. She is wearing beautifully cut and relatively understated clothes (for the 1980s)'
Golden: 'Kelly LeBrock is best known for her role as the dream girl in the movie Weird Science. Yet she also had a highly successful career as the prototype 1980s 'Amazonian' model, although here she is almost overshadowed by the equally imposing male hunk'
Coddington: 'What makes this book so striking, however, is the other side of Bailey we find interspersed with its exuberant, witty and vibrantly colourful images: the soft, lyrical, often black-and-white portraits of his wife and longtime muse, Catherine, and their children. Mixed in with the dazzling energy that jumps off the page, these seemingly unposed moments capture an endearing tenderness that is very Bailey'