Blitz, Bowie and beautiful excess: stepping back into London’s most stylish club night. The Blitz Club Exhibition

Some exhibitions feel informative. Others feel personal. The Design Museum’s Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s is very much the latter — a vibrant, emotional and unexpectedly nostalgic look at a London moment that changed music, fashion and nightlife forever.

The Design Museum itself is always a pleasure to visit. Set within the striking modernist former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington which I remember visiting on a school trip, it manages to feel calm and inspiring at the same time. The permanent collection is a reminder that design shapes every aspect of daily life, while temporary exhibitions are consistently immersive and thoughtfully curated. It’s one of those museums where you naturally slow down — and then inevitably spend too long in the shop afterwards.

The Blitz club exhibition, though, hums with energy. As we walked around the exhibition complete strangers were comparing notes and chatting to us and each other - 'do you remember having that record?', 'do you remember where the stage was?', 'do you remember wearing clothes like that?'

Celebrating the legendary Blitz club at 4 Great Queen Street in Covent Garden, the show brings together over 250 objects — clothing, photography, ephemera, film and music — alongside a wonderfully atmospheric recreation of the club space. Central to the story are founders Steve Strange and Rusty Egan, whose vision transformed a small wine bar into the epicentre of the New Romantic movement. Their emphasis on style, theatricality and door-policy mystique created a space where self-invention was currency.

Although I wasn’t a Blitz Kid by any means (I was a couple of years younger), I did go to the Blitz club on Great Queen Street a fair bit, as did my friend Jude. What I remember most vividly was the sense that creativity mattered more than confidence — and that dressing up felt less like vanity and more like belonging.

Biddie and Eve as I remember them, though maybe with more clothes on!

The cabaret was unforgettable. Biddie and Eve were enormous fun — chaotic, witty and deliciously irreverent. Their rendition of Lola was inspired and perfectly captured the club’s playful gender fluidity and theatrical spirit. Eve Ferret went on to build a varied career across film, television and cabaret and continues to perform and create work today, carrying that Blitz energy forward.

You may recognise the dress and hat from the Ashes to Ashes video

One of the exhibition’s standout moments explores how David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes video famously featured Blitz kids after he became captivated by their creativity and style. Watching the footage within the exhibition context makes it clear just how influential that club crowd was — not followers of fashion, but creators of it.

I'd wear that leather dress now!

The fashion section is particularly evocative. DIY tailoring, dramatic silhouettes and unapologetic glamour sit alongside photography by Derek Ridgers, capturing clubbers whose looks felt like performance art. The hats by Stephen Jones are as stunning as ever.

The display demob pieces are shown in the first photo, Jude's personal collection in the next 2 photos

The movement’s influence quickly spilled into the mainstream — something I remember personally, including buying pirate trousers and a frilly shirt on the King’s Road in a moment of enthusiastic New Romantic devotion. They are long gone. Meanwhile Jude had discovered the delights of Demob on Beak Street - we spotted an item on display in the exhibition, she later sent me photos of her collection including a dress in the same pattern and material.

Those pirate trousers brought back memories

There’s also a thoughtful exploration of the wider cultural context — recession-era London, squat living, going to university for free and getting a student grant, queer expression, escapism and the power of nightlife as a creative incubator. Despite the global impact — launching figures like Boy George, Visage and Spandau Ballet — the exhibition beautifully captures the intimacy of the room and the anticipation of getting past Steve Strange on the door.

Jude was delighted that Robert Elms signed her book

I'd bought Jude the Robert Elms book 'Blitz; The club that created the 80s', and by pure chance spotted him emerging from the gents just as we'd finished looking at the exhibition. Poor Robert didn't stand a chance, he was nabbed and asked to sign the book which he did with exceedingly good grace. We'd all loved reading his column in the free magazines you used to be given on the tube, and it was a delight that he'd returned to his General Custer hair style, which I remember him writing about in the early 80s.

You leave with a sense that Blitz wasn’t simply a club night. It was a mindset — a celebration of individuality, creativity and joyful rebellion that continues to ripple through fashion and music today.

A must-see for anyone who loves London nightlife history, fashion, music — or simply the magic of a moment when getting dressed up could change everything. Go before it closes on 29th March.

Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s

Design Museum, 224–238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG

Dates: 20 September 2025 – 29 March 2026

Nearest station: High Street Kensington

Booking: Advance booking recommended via the Design Museum website

Website: designmuseum.org