A maverick collective made up of photographers, designers and artists, it is impossible to mention 80s youth culture without referencing Buffalo. The disruptive and radical movement transformed the way that society absorbed fashion with a pioneering style that became one of the most influential of the decade. “At that time, there was no such thing as a stylist,” remembers Buffalo alumni Barry Kaymen of Ray Petri, the movement’s leader, who died of Aids in 1989. “There were fashion editors, but the word itself didn’t exist, so Ray created that.” Other founding members included photographer Jamie Morgan, Mark Lebon and Cameron McVey. The word itself was a Caribbean expression adopted by Petri, used to describe rude boys and rebels.
“She was just this nutty girl aged about fourteen, but she was part of the crew” – Barry Kamen on Naomi Campbell
The models used by the collective were also diverse – street-cast characters that carried the clothes, not the other way around. “She was just a kid,” remembers Kamen of Naomi Campbell. “She was just this nutty girl aged about fourteen, but she was part of the crew.” Petri’s work was daring, soulful, inventive and, ultimately, revolutionary. It was the antithesis to the current fashion of the decade, and brought together a gang of friends and a style that would eventually filter onto the catwalk, in the work of Jean Paul Gaultier, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons.