London nightlife has descended into the pits of hell across the course of the last 14 years of Tory rule, with beloved venues shuttering across the capital at a truly berserk rate. That’s not to say that the city’s clubbing scene is dead, though, with spots like Venue MOT, Fold, and The Glove That Fits, plus nights like Adonis and Pussy Palace keeping the flame burning despite near constant adversity.
It’s not the first time the Tories have run anything enjoyable into the ground, however, with the 1980s seeing Conservative vampire #girlboss Margaret Thatcher suck the life out of the country and its nightlife back then, too. Just like now, the creative community fought back with ingenuity and determination, with legendary nights like Kinky Gerlinky, Blitz, Slimelight, Taboo and more rising up from the rubble.
With Kinky Gerlinky the topic of an incredible documentary by Martine Rose collaborator Dick Jewell and the Blitz Kids getting their own film in 2022’s Blitzed, now it’s the turn of Taboo to have the spotlight turned in its direction. Founded by radical artist Leigh Bowery in 1985, the Leicester Square night drew in London’s most avant-garde crowd of freaks and weirdos, with Bowery staging wild performances at the centre of it all – chances are, you may be familiar with the time he gave birth to himself live on stage. This all happened at Taboo.
Set to land in London later this year comes new exhibition Outlaws, which will take over the Fashion & Textile Museum from October 4. Inside, the show will tell the story of Taboo, which blazed bright for a little under a year before it burned out as quickly as it arrived. There will be a recreation of the squat Bowery lived in when he first moved to London – complete with mirrored walls and Star Trek wallpaper – and a space set up to look like a section of Camden Market, where Taboo regulars like Pam Hogg and the Red or Dead designers sold their clothes when they were starting out.
Beyond this, also on show will be a swathe of costumes worn by Bowery and his friends, as well as a rarely-seen collection of garments scooped up by OG NY club kid Susanne Bartsch and taken over to her own club night in the Big Apple. Poignantly, the show will also spotlight many attendees whose lives, like Bowery’s, were cut tragically short by AIDS.