The Design Museum is set to transport visitors back to the birthplace of 1980s subculture with Blitz: The Club That Shaped the 80s, a major new exhibition opening this September. Over 250 rare and deeply personal artefacts from the legendary London nightclub will be displayed for the first time, many unseen since the club’s heyday in 1979-1980.
Though the Blitz existed for just 18 months, its impact was seismic. Nestled in Covent Garden, this tiny, 50-capacity wine bar became the crucible for a creative explosion that redefined fashion, music, film, and design. The club’s co-founders, Steve Strange and Rusty Egan, curated a weekly Tuesday night gathering that drew a daring new generation, soon dubbed the Blitz Kids, who rejected mainstream culture and the austerity of Punk in favour of flamboyant self-invention.
The exhibition, developed in collaboration with key figures from the scene, traces the journey of these young visionaries. Visitors will encounter original synthesisers used by Spandau Ballet—the club’s house band—Gary Kemp’s handwritten lyrics, and one-of-a-kind outfits worn by clubgoers, including Chris Sullivan’s iconic blue tartan suit and early designs by Stephen Jones and Bodymap’s David Holah. The show also spotlights the global influence of the Blitz Kids, from the launch of The Face and *i-D* magazines to their appearance in David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes video.
Curator Danielle Thom describes the exhibition as a long-overdue celebration of the club’s legacy. “Astonishingly, a nightclub lasting little more than a year could shape an entire decade,” she says. “But the Blitz wasn’t just a club—it was the spark that ignited the 1980s.”
Director of the Design Museum, Tim Marlow, adds: “This is the untold story of how a niche club night revolutionised culture. The Blitz Kids weren’t just partying but rewriting the rules.”
Reflecting on the club’s anarchic spirit, Rusty Egan recalls: “We didn’t wait for permission. We just played records, dressed up, and made history.”
In London in 1979 — at the tail end of Punk and at the start of Thatcher’s decade in power — a small but influential group of young creatives came together every Tuesday at the Blitz wine bar in Covent Garden.
Co-hosted by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan, this weekly club night drew a daring, restless new generation. They rejected both the conformity of mainstream culture and the rigidity of existing subcultures, and instead pushed the boundaries of taste with their outrageous fashions and futuristic music.
Coming down the stairs from London’s dour streets into the tiny club that could only hold 50 people were young creatives who would go on to invent a new wave of glamour. The house band was Spandau Ballet, the cloakroom attendant was Boy George and singer Marilyn was a regular. Founders Steve Strange and Rusty Egan formed Visage with fellow clubgoer Midge Ure. DJ Princess Julia, designer Philip Sallon, and Siobhan Fahey from Bananarama were all on the dancefloor. Broadcaster Robert Elms, Perry Haines, who co-founded i-D magazine and Chris Sullivan of Blue Rondo à la Turk were spotted in the crowds, as were artists Cerith Wyn Evans and Christine Binnie, and filmmaker John Maybury.
The media quickly dubbed them as the ‘Blitz Kids’ or ‘New Romantics.’ Some of these Blitz Kids became global chart-topping celebrities, while many others would establish themselves as leading designers, writers, artists and filmmakers.
Their sources of inspiration were many: David Bowie, punk culture, the soul scene, Weimar-era Germany, film noir and European art-house cinema, as well as London’s art schools and much more. These club-goers were the brightest young talents of their generation, and they came together to revolutionise fashion, music and design in a way that would shape the following decade in Britain and beyond.
Blitz: The Club That Shaped the 80s opens at the Design Museum on 20 September 2025.
Top Photo: Blitz club in 1979. Photograph: Sheila Rock