What do you think when you see a skinhead? Thug? Racist? Can I outrun him/her in those boots? I’ll charitably speculate that most of our readers are too young to remember the subculture’s roots in the West Indian-influenced fashion and music of the 1960s that also gave rise to the wealthier peacock mods. While the latter were more fancily attired, the working class youths who had less in their pockets went for functional clothing, bookended by aggressive looking army or work boots accentuated by straight-leg jeans, and low-maintenance close-cropped or shaved heads.
It was an intimidating look that didn’t always tie in with followers’ attitudes or politics, but groups of skinheads (including blacks) were fingered for anti-Asian attacks in the UK and, unfortunately for the cuddly moderate skinheads, once the the subculture became tainted with an association to neo-Nazis and white supremacists across Europe and North America, the mud stuck. However, to dismiss the skinhead subculture as merely a far-right extremist uniform would be to do it a severe disservice. A new book featuring archive material from historian Toby Mott and the first-hand recollections of writers such as Bruce LaBruce and Garry Bushell looks at the skinhead movement from all angles, with sections on the skinhead origins, the socialist skinheads, queer skinheads and skin girls, and the fascist interpretation. To mark the launch of Skinhead – An Archive, an exhibition of source material and a corresponding collection of menswear from Martine Rose was recently held by publisher Ditto Press – iconic punk artist Jamie Reid even designed a special font for its release. Head to the publishers’ online store to grab a copy.
Photo © Sam Bush
Martine Rose x Ditto
© Ditto Press
© Ditto Press
