London, 1995

This was taken at my friend Ros’s house. We were on our way to AWOL at Ministry of Sound. I was so jealous of her Versace jeans! I was wearing a black minidress with a Chanel chain belt. I would tie my hair up tight, using a can of hairspray, and wrap a pair of tights around it to make my bun. Juliette Hedoin, picture director

Southampton, 1994

In this picture I’m 15, stoned and in my room at my parents’ suburban house. I was off to find someone with a free house or room to stay in until I greened out. I’m wearing Bleu Bolt jeans (size 38 waist for extra bagginess), a roll neck to hide my skinny neck and an MA-1 jacket from the club Obsession. Rich Evans, PR director

Birmingham, 1975

High-waisted trousers, tight on the hips with the flare starting from the top of the thigh. Platform shoes. Skin-tight shirt with a long collar. Hair growing out of a short crop. There was little creativity in fashion in the mid-1970s and this outfit typified the casual style of the time. Jerina Phillips, retired PA

London, 1987

I was 17 in this picture. I was saving up for Guccis, so in the meantime I was rocking Bass Weejuns penny loafers. Check out the biker boots from Kensington Market and the cowboy boots, which were cheap Dolcis but I dyed them black and rocked them with my leather MA-1, hanging behind me. Marc Hare, founder of shoe label Mr Hare

Leicester, 1983

My first foray into alternative wear. Early 1980s, into Tik and Tok. Just before I ‘ran away’ to London. Heavy drinking and smoking followed. Upon hitting 30 I never touched a drink again.Paul Dyson, artist

Hackney, c1997

You felt Hackney had an influence on everything that was happening in London to do with fashion, music and stuff and that wherever you went, everyone just knew that you were from Hackney. I was 17 or 18 here. We were good, happy, young and wild. Winston Milton, company director and promoter

Bournemouth, 1984

This photo was taken at a Dirt Box club weekend away in Bournemouth. I started the Dirt Box parties with my friend Phil Gray in ’82. The rockabilly look came to dominate within our London crowd, although we preferred the term “funkabilly”. It was adopted as street fashion a year or two later.Rob Milton, DJ and promoter

London, mid-70s

Me and my friend John Johnson. In ’75 we set up JJ’s, in the Cornet of Horse pub in Battersea. We held these parties every Sunday for three years. It was always important to us to match our clothes and have a certain look that we thought of as soulful and stylish. Jim Jackson, operations director

London, c1976

Some of the most finely dressed came to JJ’s on those weekends. The music was imported directly from the States. When you needed to kick back a little you could retreat to the bar, observe the parade of talented, beautiful people filtering past, and feel glad to be part of something that we all knew was special. Jim Jackson

High Wycombe, 1984-85

This was taken when I was 18. I’m wearing Pepe jeans and a Jaeger jumper. My trainers I would have worn running. It was rare to wear trainers back then; rave changed all that. Neville is wearing a pair of moccasins, the skin[head] footwear of choice in the summer when it was too hot to wear boots.Gavin Watson, photographer

London, 1990

I got into the rave scene in the late ’80s and it inspired me to start the Sign of the Times shop in Kensington Market. The look started off with baggy rave T-shirts and also Stüssy tees and bucket hats. Sign of the Times was one of the few places that stocked Stüssy in the UK at the time. Fiona Cartledge, fashion expert and writer

London, 1998

I remember getting that bag free with some Tommy Girl perfume and being so proud of it. Ny Nike crop top was a staple item in my wardrobe as a teenager. I would often get my brother’s sportswear hand-me-downs, so I’m certain the jumper around my waist was his; it was probably Nike or Ellesse.Suzannah Pettigrew, artist and curator