Tuesday, May 15, 2012

SHOW AND TELL: ABOUT BOY LONDON

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

The BOY London collaboration with my favourite T-Shirt label, Long Clothing (£40 each)

When I was 18 years old I can vividly recall the day my little sister Jennifer came home with a white leatherette BOY London baseball cap. I was so frickin annoyed because I wanted one, and now she had one I couldn't etc etc. Ah, the things we used to get upset about.

We didn't look at elitist, out-of-touch catwalk fashion in the early 1990s; our bible was The Face, our icons were other young people and the brands we connected with were ones we could relate to and afford with our pathetic recession-hit bank balance. Fast forward to today and I am an adult woman witnessing a fashion groundhog day, as BOY London is in the midst of a revival and club kids dress, look and act pretty much exactly how we used to, the only difference being the addition of Mac tech about their person.

BOY London was founded in the late 1970s by a fashion-obsessed lad about town called Stephane Raynor who was part of the Blitz Kid and New Romantic clubbing movements. By the time we found it, it had been worn by Andy Warhol, Madonna, The Pet Shop Boys, Boy George, and its shop on Old Compton Street in London's Soho always had queues outside. In the mid-late 1990s its popularity and its distinctive eagle and BOY logo had had its day.

Back in February though, a curious thing happened: BOY London relaunched with Selfridges as its premier stockist, with none other than its founder Stephane Raynor still at the creative controls, although this time around he has a decent backer. Amazingly it has been freshly discovered by Rihanna, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj as well as hipster Chloe Sevigny.

The result is, after a hiatus of more than a decade away from business, the brand and its founder has taken root again in a fertile ground of edgy pop stars, even edgier club kids and a recession hit economy that is creating its "own" street culture and affordable brand icons. The brand is red hot all over again.

After Rihanna wore the below outfit on Jonathan Ross' show last month, the Selfridges website experienced such an enormous sales spike they sold out of five key styles overnight. Why? Because the brand is affordable: the average T-shirt is £35, sweatshirt £55 and leggings £40; TopShop prices.

Of course, Jessie J, Rihanna, and Nicki Minaj didn't happen across BOY in Selfridges though: their stylists discovered it after they found the 90s vintage - if 90s stuff could officially be called, vintage which it can't - store Sick on Redchurch Street in East London which is owned and run by none other than the bad BOY founder himself Stephane Raynor. Fashion in full cycle.