The Blitz — the short lived club night that launched the careers of Spandau Ballet and Boy George — will be celebrated in an exhibition at the Design Museum starting this autumn.
Running from 20 September 2025-29 March 2026, Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s will delve into the heady days of the Covent Garden club, which formed a springboard for the careers of pop stars including Spandau Ballet, Visage, Boy George (he was the cloakroom attendant) and Marilyn. Designers, artists, filmmakers and writers also frequented the club — including couture milliner Stephen Jones, Game of Thrones costume designer Michele Clapton, and BBC broadcaster Robert Elms. Regulars were nicknamed the 'Blitz Kids', some of whom were handpicked by David Bowie in 1980 to star in his Ashes to Ashes video.
Presided over by the eccentric Steve Strange —who enforced a strict dress code and took pleasure in turning people away — the club gained a reputation in the national press for its outrageous outfits, wild characters and futuristic music. The place where Spandau Ballet played their first ever public performance (and later became the house band), the Blitz is considered the crucible of the New Romantic movement, although it wasn't a music venue per se, and Spandau Ballet were the only group to play there live.
The Design Museum has promised a "sensory extravaganza" of music, flamboyant fashions, and pioneering art, film and graphic design, courtesy of over 250 items: clothing and accessories, design sketches, instruments, flyers, magazines, furniture, artworks, photography, vinyls and rare film footage. Among exhibition highlights will be the synthesiser that Spandau Ballet recorded their first album with, striking ensembles worn by club goers, and Steve Strange's own leather garments. Many of the items are from personal collections and haven't seen the light of day since they were flaunted in the dingy, 50-capacity club some 45 years ago (and even then, they didn't see the actual light of day).
1980. © Derek Ridgers c/o Unravel Productions
The exhibition will run for three months — a sixth of the entire lifespan of the club night, which was only in existence for 18 months between 1979 and 1980. Whet your appetite with more wonderful images of the Blitz, on British Culture Archive.
Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s, Design Museum, 20 September 2025-29 March 2026
