Music and fashion

Grunge fashion refers to the clothing, accessories and hairstyles of the grunge music genre. This subculture emerged in mid-1980s Seattle, and had reached wide popularity by the mid 1990s. Grunge fashion is characterized by durable and timeless thrift-store clothing, often worn in a loose, androgynous manner to de-emphasize the silhouette. The style was popularized by music bands Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.

Heavy metal fashion is the style of dress, body modification, make-up, hairstyle, and so on, taken on by fans of heavy metal, or, as they are often called, metalheads or headbangers. While the style has changed from the 1970s to the 2020s, certain key elements have remained constant, such as black clothes, long hair and leather jackets. In the 1980s, some bands began wearing spandex. Other attire includes denim or leather vests or jackets with band patches and logos, t-shirts with band names, and spiked wristbands. It can also include with heavier subgenres of metal: bullet belts, gas masks, and war gear.

Hip-hop fashion (also known as rap fashion) refers to the various styles of dress that originated from Urban Black America and inner city youth in cities like New York City, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Being a major part of hip hop culture, it further developed in other cities across the United States,^[5] with each contributing different elements to the overall style that is now recognized worldwide.

Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in late 1950s London and spread throughout Great Britain, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries.^[6] It continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and fashion, the subculture has its roots in a small group of stylish London-based young men and women in the late 1950s who were termed modernists because they listened to modern jazz.^[7] Elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits); music (including soul, rhythm and blues, ska and mainly jazz) and motor scooters (usually Lambretta or Vespa). In the mid-1960s when they started to fade out, the subculture listened to rock groups with jazz and blues influences such as the Who and Small Faces. The original mod scene was associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night jazz dancing at clubs.^[8]

Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.^[9]

The early, pre-fame work of designer Vivienne Westwood helped pioneer the look of early British punk with her scene-establishing clothing shops Sex and Seditionaries in the mid-1970s, co-run with Malcolm McLaren who managed the Sex Pistols. Westwood was asked by then-partner McLaren to outfit the Sex Pistols, and Westwood's designs found a canvas on Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious.^[10] Her early work with Sex and the Sex Pistols helped to establish her as one of the most influential British designers of the 20th century.^[11]

Punk fashion has long been commercialized,^[12] with well-established fashion designers like Zandra Rhodes,^[13][14][15] Thierry Mugler,^[16][17] Jean Paul Gaultier,^[18][19] Stephen Sprouse,^[20][21] and Anna Sui^[22][23] using punk elements in their production and the first punk-influenced fashion spreads appearing in mainstream fashion magazines as early as 1976.^[24]