Zines, posters and gay porn: the skinhead archives

There’s more to it than Dr Martens – a new book and exhibition go deep into the subculture’s history, with a Martine Rose collab to celebrate

No Skin off my Ass, Bruce LaBruce, USA, 1994, VHS cover

Taken from Skinhead: An Archive

                                     

                                     

 

From Neo-Nazis to queer skin flicks, Skinhead: An Archive is the momentous new book from Ditto Press compiling zines, posters and other vital ephemera from one of England’s most riotous and iconic subcultural movements. Designed by Jamie Reid, the book was curated by artist, collector and punk history connoisseur Toby Mott, and along with a supporting exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see some of Mott’s rare and renowned collection – like Bruce LaBruce VHS sleeves and a copy of the “neither racist or red” Skinhead Times zine, featuring the charming Miss Skinhead 1993.

With her designs referencing and reimagining British subculture (see her AW14 collection, which repurposed archival rave flyers) menswear rebel and Dazed 100 designer Martine Rose has joined forces with Ditto and Mott to mark the book and exhibition by creating a made to order MA1 jacket, limited edition patch set and a badge – featuring Grogger and Inch, the skinhead couple, embracing on their wedding day. “It was an authentic response to a time of change and insecurity,” Rose explains of the era, and for her and Mott, it is Nicky Crane – the hypermasculine former Oi poster boy, convicted neo-Nazi, gay bar doorman and AIDS victim – that has come to embody the sentiment that drove the subculture. “His story is symbolic of Thatcher and Britain,” Mott says, “moving from one outdated idea and onto a new era with devastating consequences.”

Skinhead: An Archive runs until the 22nd of January at the Ditto Gallery, 4 Benyon Road London. The book and collaborative pieces are available online.