Archive for June, 2018

Better Do Something

Wednesday, June 6th, 2018

One night in 1982, a 19-year-old club kid called Ian Griffiths, who had recently dropped out of an architecture degree because “there was just too much fun to be had in Manchester, to be honest”, was at a party in Wythenshawe. He was living on £37.50 a week benefit, and “perfectly happy. I made all my own clothes, I got into all the clubs free.” When the Haçienda nightclub opened in the city, Griffiths went every night without fail for the first six months – “and I didn’t eat anyway, so there was no requirement for food. But there we were, wasted on the sofa, and the news came on that Margaret Thatcher was considering conscription for the Falklands war for the unemployed. So I thought I’d better do something. That’s how I ended up studying fashion.”

 Jess Cartner-Morley