Details Magazine, founded by Annie Flanders in 1982, is best known for its fashion coverage. Starting with the very first issue the magazine was brimming with creatively designed ads from small downtown boutiques and newly launched clothing lines. Details was also the principle venue for photographer Bill Cunningham, whose prolific coverage of street fashion and couture evolved over the years into huge 100-plus page articles, which were recently the subject of a Gallery 98 online exhibition on Cunningham.
But Details covered more than just fashion. From the beginning it also chronicled the nightclub and downtown art scene that was at its most glamorous in the 80s. Every issue featured Stephen Saban’s exhaustive coverage of club events, and gossip enlivened with photographs by Patrick McMullan and others. Downtown personality Cookie Mueller wrote the art reviews drawing upon her insider knowledge of what was both hip and hot.
Of special interest are the nightclub advertisements in Details. During the 80s night life and the visual arts intermixed with clubs like AREA (1983) that regularly hosted exhibitions and commissioned artists to create environments. In 1985 the mega-nightclub Palladium took the art/club fusion to new heights by commissioning giant murals by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf.
See our full Details inventory here
