Turning Vintage in 2012

The best of film, literature, music, design and fashion from 1987 comes of age this year. Here is our round up of the best creations of 25 years ago.

Wednesday 4th January, 2012

Ettore Sottsass’ ‘Max’ cabinet was the swansong for postmodernist Design collective Memphis, fusing high and low materials such as terrazzo tile, burl wood, patterned plastic laminate and clear Lucite to create his largest piece of furniture to date. It has been suggested the design was named for Max Palevsky, a client and a friend of Sottsass. Continuing in the mould of his break-through piece, the 'Lockheed Lounge' of 1986, Marc Newson realised his vision for "a fluid metallic form, like a giant blob of mercury" in the ‘Pod of Drawers’ design. This second hand-made metal form was loosely based on the Baroque furniture forms he had seen in reproductions of French paintings and used materials stolen from the model-making workshop where he worked part-time.

The Cinemas weren’t exactly set alight in 1987, with a crop of cheesy horrors and comedy films best left forgotten. A nod must go to romantic classic Dirty Dancing, with its much-loved soundtrack and lines now very much engrained in popular culture (“no one puts Baby in the corner”). The Bond franchise saw its 15th entry with Timothy Dalton starring as the MI6 agent in The Living Daylights. British black comedy Withnail and I cast back to 1969, telling the story of two unsuccessful actors played by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann. The duo plan to escape their squalid Camden flat by taking a trip to the country, but in Bruce Robinson’s directorial debut they find it is not quite the rural idyll they’d envisaged.

In Literature, Tom Wolfe’s chronicle of racism, politics and greed in 80s New York, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and nostalgic Japanese tale Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami were the best-selling novels. Meanwhile, the airwaves were coloured by the chart-topping albums of Deep Purple (The House of Blue Light), Michael Jackson (Bad) and The Smiths (The World Won’t Listen).

Amid the legwarmers, Lycra miniskirts and hairbands, Vivienne Westwood sent her Harris Tweed Collection down the catwalk, making her comeback with a classic country look after a five-year absence. Featuring Princess line coats, fine-knit twinsets and crowns fashioned from tweed, her inspiration was the young Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth – a far more affectionate nostalgic look at the royals than her anarchic 1977 ‘Jubilee’ collection. Also in Fashion, Chanel expanded into the realm of Horology as the brand launched their first watch in 1987.

This was also the year in which Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton joined forces to become the luxury conglomerate LVMH, controlling a host of high profile premium brands such as Christian Dior, Krug, Gucci and Hublot.