Also before cyberpunk, in the 70s you had Kiss and and other Heavy Metal groups with studs and black leather, and then there is the hole BDSM scene. Also with Aeon Flux along with the bondage gear clothing you have the Eye as a Venus Fly Trap, and this always makes me think of Story Of The Eye.
Aeon Flux was early 90s on Liquid TV nice throw back. As my sister in law it's Fashion Bitch . Loved this. Studio 54 and Grace Jones. She was before Wonder Woman and such but the living doll meets her dark side was on and popping after Carrie Ann Moss. You are so right.
This is so informative, Rachel! Indeed, cyberpunk fashion tells a narrative of its own via various mediums. It enriches the movies, games, shows, et cetera, if not being the conduit of sorts for them.
Great and informative! If I may, allow me to make a small correction/addition: Cyberpunk and Club Kids did not have to wait for the 2000s. NYC's club Mother began hosting the cyberpunk night Click and Drag in 1996. Creator Rob Roth says:
"Birthed by the legendary Tuesday night Jackie 60, Click + Drag began as a Saturday-night weekly at the Mother nightclub in New York’s Meatpacking district. Starting in 1996 the night ran four years in over 200 themed editions with a strictly enforced dress code. Rob Roth, with cofounders Chi Chi Valenti, fashion designer Kitty Boots, and journalist Abby Ehmann explored the interface between nightclubs, future-fetish lifestyles, and computers. Using this innovative nightlife hybrid, Click + Drag continued to evolve and build a fanatic following." https://www.rob-roth.com/portfolio/click-drag/
Thanks for pointing this out! My musical engineer was actually good friends with Rob Roth. I attended Mother in the early 2000s and would have loved to have been there from the start. I maintain that some of the costumes and music at these parties were edgier than anything the modern “dissident right” has produced, and feel lucky to have been around for the scene when I was.
Oh man I was there In Sydney early 2000s in the Pubs that we did up with Black plastic on Wednesdays... candles... I was a heavy metal Spaz- but I never missed a wednesday... the creativity of those goth kids sucked me in... ! A special time and place... just as special as now of course :)
I found some metal to be raw and expressive too, with a similar primal spirit as industrial. Metal definitely wasn’t my main genre, but I have incredible memories of seeing Pig Destroyer play at a tiny little venue in Brooklyn. It blew my mind.
Also before cyberpunk, in the 70s you had Kiss and and other Heavy Metal groups with studs and black leather, and then there is the hole BDSM scene. Also with Aeon Flux along with the bondage gear clothing you have the Eye as a Venus Fly Trap, and this always makes me think of Story Of The Eye.
Good memories!
Aeon Flux was early 90s on Liquid TV nice throw back. As my sister in law it's Fashion Bitch . Loved this. Studio 54 and Grace Jones. She was before Wonder Woman and such but the living doll meets her dark side was on and popping after Carrie Ann Moss. You are so right.
*as my sister in law and I say It's-
Great essay! My favorite fashion genre.
Don’t forget Aeon Flux, 91-95 MTV https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0111873/
So glad you linked the TV series and not the film! She was my favorite.
This is so informative, Rachel! Indeed, cyberpunk fashion tells a narrative of its own via various mediums. It enriches the movies, games, shows, et cetera, if not being the conduit of sorts for them.
Great and informative! If I may, allow me to make a small correction/addition: Cyberpunk and Club Kids did not have to wait for the 2000s. NYC's club Mother began hosting the cyberpunk night Click and Drag in 1996. Creator Rob Roth says:
"Birthed by the legendary Tuesday night Jackie 60, Click + Drag began as a Saturday-night weekly at the Mother nightclub in New York’s Meatpacking district. Starting in 1996 the night ran four years in over 200 themed editions with a strictly enforced dress code. Rob Roth, with cofounders Chi Chi Valenti, fashion designer Kitty Boots, and journalist Abby Ehmann explored the interface between nightclubs, future-fetish lifestyles, and computers. Using this innovative nightlife hybrid, Click + Drag continued to evolve and build a fanatic following." https://www.rob-roth.com/portfolio/click-drag/
Thanks for pointing this out! My musical engineer was actually good friends with Rob Roth. I attended Mother in the early 2000s and would have loved to have been there from the start. I maintain that some of the costumes and music at these parties were edgier than anything the modern “dissident right” has produced, and feel lucky to have been around for the scene when I was.
Oh man I was there In Sydney early 2000s in the Pubs that we did up with Black plastic on Wednesdays... candles... I was a heavy metal Spaz- but I never missed a wednesday... the creativity of those goth kids sucked me in... ! A special time and place... just as special as now of course :)
I found some metal to be raw and expressive too, with a similar primal spirit as industrial. Metal definitely wasn’t my main genre, but I have incredible memories of seeing Pig Destroyer play at a tiny little venue in Brooklyn. It blew my mind.