Skinheads

Skinheads are one of the most controversial renegade youth cultures. Taking pride in their working-class roots, they nevertheless carry with them an enduring association with right-wing political extremism and football hooliganism that dates back to the rise of the National Front party in the 1970s.

The perception of skinheads being aggressive is reinforced by the stripped-back hard functionalism of their dress; the shaved hair, big boots and tight jeans suggesting an aggressive masculinity. Skinheads look like they are dressed for 'aggro' or 'bother', hence one of their earned nicknames 'bovver boys', and 'bovver boots' to describe their footwear.

However, like all subcultures, looks can be misleading. Over the years skinhead culture has diversified and opened up to different groups, many of whom seek to distance the style from its negative associations.

Both the ska music revival of the late 1970s, known as 2-Tone, and the emergence of the SHARP (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) skins in the late 1980s have helped to do this. The adoption of the skinhead look by gay men in the early 1990s has also helped to diversify and blur the meaning of skinhead style.

The skinhead outfit in Brighton's Renegade collection reflects the importance of the original look of the early 1970s to contemporary skinhead culture, for example the attention paid to details such as the width of trouser turn-ups and the colour of laces.