To celebrate the arrival of the Wonder Workshop tees as part of the collaboration between Topman and The Look Presents, we have created a list of our favourite style-breaking bands across the decads. This isn’t just about the music. It’s about bands and artists who’ve really forged something revolutionary style and look-wise as well.
It would be great to hear from you on this one, so if you have any thoughts or comments email us at hello@rampindustry.com.
So here we go…
00s
To date, a decade all about colour and style, also retaining powerful links back to the past. It’s been fun so far.
Dizzee Rascal (Left)
New Era, Avirex, popped collars and diamond earrings - at last we had a fantastic looking rapper from Britain.
Franz Ferdinand
They took a crisp, very British look that had worked for generations of art school kids and brought it to the attention of the rest of us. Now lots of us look like we know about the Futurists and stuff.
The Klaxons
Kings of Nu-Rave. Big fluoro tees, tight girls’ jeans and big trainers - simple but effective.
M.I.A
Pretty, skinny, fluoro and hyperactive – nu-rave meets rap and positive vibes. As she says, ‘more records than the KGB’.
Marc Ronson
The Phil Spector for the 00s rocks suits that could have been made for his spiritual forefather some 40 years ago. Classic 60s styling updated.
MGMT
Native Indian Lord of The Flies styles on the album cover and a killer album. The new wave of wear-what-you-want.
Lightspeed Champion
That hair makes him look like an indie Rick James, but his big glasses, vintage metal t-shirts and badly repaired girl’s jeans are a look echoed in indie clubs the world over.
The Strokes (Right)
Skinny jeans – tick. Tidy shirts – tick. Thin ties – tick. Sounds normal now but they did it before anyone else. In 2000, NYC became relevant again and this lot one of the most influential groups, fashion-wise, of the past 15 years.
Pete Doherty
You can knock the boy all you like but he has influenced designers across the world. Just scrub your nails Peter; come on lad.
Amy Winehouse
Took a look best described as ‘East End gangster’s moll’ circa 1961 and barely needed to update it at all. Sailor tattoos, miniskirt and a beehive: a timeless combo.
90s
The decade the lad hit big time. Rave ran strong and hip-hop culture got bigger than big.
Jarvis Cocker (Left)
From Sheffield to Paris - one from the geek school of dressing. Awkward and sophisticated at the same time, Jarvis has always looked weirdly cool.
Notorious B.I.G
Bling dog. Lived large all the way. What suits! What chains! What canes! What a guy…
Happy Mondays
Not an obvious one but their ‘lads on stage’ look created the template for Oasis, and in turn, the Arctic Monkeys. It was all about classic Italian menswear - often obtained on football away days.
Lemonheads/Evan Dando
The floppy haired hero of many at the time, Evan took supermodel good looks to grunge and it really, really worked.
Kurt Cobain, Nirvana
Flannel shirts, greasy hair, ripped jeans and Cons - it was really easy to look great in 1993. He did it best, though.
Oasis
Terrace fashion was back, lads being lads, in comfortable shirts and loafers. Took the original Happy Mondays template of lads on stage and sold it to half a million people at Knebworth.
Blur (Right)
From indie flop to casual stance via Americana they’ve been through a lot of looks, getting it spot on every time. Damon is now turning into a modern day Fagin and Alex has gone all country on us.
Daft Punk
Here come the Robots. Followed Kraftwerks lead and took it a step further style-wise. Weird Frenchmen in great masks.
The Prodigy
Took the rave look mainstream, making it all unhinged and dark in the process. From Essex to the world.
The Wu-Tang Clan
From ODB to GZA they had it locked down. Still living the dream. Thugged out in grills and sweatpants.
80s
London club fashion went mainstream, boybands took off, students got style and classic Jamaican stylings hit the suburbs.
The Smiths/Morrissey (Left)
Morrissey took national health specs, cheap overcoats and emotional problems and made them sexy. Students the world over took note.
Bros
Grolsch bottle caps on the shoes and name belts. Took MA1 Face-style fashion to the pages of Smash Hits. Red leather jackets haven’t really made a comeback yet though…
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Took the rubber/leather look massive and created headlines every step. People still ape that t-shirt to this day…
Madonna
She went from grimy New York disco kid to Material Girl in such a short time, but oh, what a journey in style!
Guns N’ Roses Metal goes gutter. Wore it as they lived it. Hard. Drinking Night Train on Sunset Strip and dressing a bit like girls looked like it was a lot of fun.
The Specials (Right)
2-tone: does exactly what it says on the tin and looks great with it. Sharp suits and hats, plus they didn’t have to worry about their outfits clashing.
Boy George
He played the game and was very hooked up with London fashion circles, from BOY to Philip Treacy. Exotic rasta meets gay scenester and gets along swimmingly.
Grace Jones (Left)
Styles by Jean-Paul Goude, with whom she created some of the most iconic images of the 80s. Straight lines, muscles and not a lot of smiling, she was a great Bond girl too…
Run DMC
Shell toes, tracksuits, medallions and hats. Leisure wear and jewellery - who’d have thought that’d work?
Duran Duran
Sitting on yacht never looked so appealing. Miami Vice styles hit London.
70s
Strong style a-go-go, from futurism and new romo, to art school and glam.
Sex Pistols (Right)
Styled by the legend that is Vivienne Westwood and fueled by intelligent vitriol, could this be the most iconic and stylish band ever?
David Bowie
Deserves a medal for his services to fashion. From the proto-glam of Ziggy Stardust to the angular, gorgeous yuppie of the Thin White Duke, and it seems he’s still on it to this day.
Roxy Music
Art school found a look with this lot. The gentlemen’s glam band, understated but cool and exotic as hell.
Talking Heads
The original art rockers. They dressed like they were on their way to work in a library, which, as it turns out, was quite a successful look for them.
The Clash
The original sloganeering foursome from west London. Took punk to the world, incorporating rockabilly, rap and reggae along the way, and taking a little something from each for their look too.
Iggy and the Stooges
Low-down and dirty thugs playing primitive, scuzzy rock music with a sexy man in silver trousers and make up doing the singing all covered in blood. Isn’t that all you need?
Marc Bolan
He might have been short but he was as big as the Beatles in his day and better looking with it.
Kraftwerk (Left)
Hugely influenced the new romantics with their ‘futurism’ stylings and at the same time kind of looked a bit boring. But that was the point. Another one for the art school kids.
The Ramones
Those haircuts, the skinny jeans - one iconic look. Rock and roll cartoons, pioneering the ‘band as streetgang’ thing. Dumber than dumb.
Black Sabbath
Occult imagery, big cross medallions, the colour black- heavy metal wouldn’t have been the same without these boys from Brum.
60s and previous
Times that were iconic and ground breaking. The decade in which youth street style really took hold...
The Velvet Underground (Right)
They were already great: sunglasses, scowls and songs about the bad things. But the most sinister rock and roll band of the 60s also got a hand from Warhol and an incredible looking German blonde called Nico.
Elvis Presley
A great haircut, a bunch of sharp suits and some filthy gyrating -Elvis’s first incarnation was everything rock and roll has needed to be before or since.
Jimi Hendrix
The original paisley rocker - years ahead of his royal highness Prince, and quite a bit taller.
Buddy Holly
He made corrective eyewear cool. East London nerds and spectacle shops thank him.
Johnny Cash
The Man in Black, his look was like his music - simple, sombre and powerful.
Little Richard
Prince learnt a lot from this diminutive, make-up wearing hellraiser. He caused a lot of trouble in his day, and looked damn good with it.
The Rolling Stones (Left)
They all started out in sharp suits but by the end of the 60s Keith looked like a cool pirate, Mick looked like a paisley prince and Charlie just looked badass. They all still kind of look like that now - the years have been kind.
The Beatles
The shop front for counter culture the world over. Leaders not followers in almost every respect, including the sartorial.
Frank Sinatra and The Rat Pack
Hard drinking, smooth, impeccably turned out and REALLY good with girls. We all wish we were in the rat pack.
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Rocked the mafia look and were also the gangsters’ favourite band. Skinny suits, neat hair, white teeth and smooth vocals.