One of the Antwerp Six, Walter Van Beirendonck is renowned for his experimental approach to creating clothes. Some of the themes that Beirendonck embeds into his collections are ideas of tolerance and freedom of expression. These concepts are explored in Beirendonck’s Fall/Winter 1989 collection entitled “Hardbeat”. It draws inspiration from the Belgian new beat phenomenon and is a homage to the rave culture of the late 1980s. The collection prominently features neon faux fur jackets, platform boots and striking silhouettes that juxtapose knitted textiles with sporty fabrics and reflective materials. The shocking mask designs from the collection reference S&M culture. Recorded music was also a large influence on the collection with the printed show invite taking on the appearance of a cassette tape. Some of the designs in the collection incorporate the Sony Walkman, which popularised mobile music listening during the 1980s.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the Hard Beat collection is the fact that clothes from the collection actually became popular among partygoers in the rave scene. Drawn to their unusual color combinations and free flowing shapes, it was not uncommon to see Beirendonck’s designs on dancefloors throughout Europe. In 2016 in The Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp included the Hard Style collection as part of their exhibition “Energy Flash” which sought to show the social, political, economic and technological implications of rave culture.

Raf Simons has frequently looked to youth culture to inform his designs. For the Spring/Summer 2000 collection “Summa Cum Laude”, Simons chose an unlikely pairing of inspirations; mashing together the uniform of gabber with style cues borrowed from genius-level MENSA students. Gabber is a subculture revolving around high BPM electronic music (180-220 is the norm) with a distinct ‘kick’ produced with a heavily distorted Roland TR-909 bass drum. Recorded vocals were rare and instead the music pulled samples from movies, TV shows and hip-hop records. Fans of the genre called themselves “gabbers” which was common ‘90s Dutch slang for “brother”

As with any established subculture, gabber developed it’s own signature style noted by it’s loose flowing attire and oversized shapes. Gabbers often incorporated bomber jackets, colorful tracksuits and Air Maxes; items that allowed ravers to stay comfortable dancing for hours in the club. Raf paid direct homage to the scene with the an exagerrated bomber jacket from the collection. Using an oversized MA-1 as a base, Simons screenprinted a pyramid logo onto the back. Now one of the most sought after pieces from Raf’s entire archive, the piece flips the logo of the influential ‘90s gabber collective Rotterdam Terror Corps.

Nu-rave was a movement that was perhaps more easily defined by the look than the sound. The loud geometric prints and neon colors were very hard to miss even in the dimness of the dance floor. Carri Munden was certainly one of the designers that defined the look of the era. Before launching her line Cassette Playa, Munden was working behind the scenes of the fashion industry. She was a contributing fashion editor at Super Super magazine, a stylist for i-D and a frequent collaborator with Nicola Formichetti at Dazed & Confused.

She was also directly involved in the image-making side of the music industry. Munden was commissioned by M.I.A. to design clothes for M.I.A’s 2005 “Arular Tour” and the 2007 “Kala Tour”. Mundun also began styling for The Klaxons at the beginning of their career, a band who became one of the most influential and popular acts within the genre. Her wardrobe work on the hit video for “Atlantis to Interzone” provided the burgeoning scene with a memorable aesthetic to emulate.

Munden first unveiled her line Cassette Playa in 2006, but it was with the Spring/Summer 2007 collection that the label really hit it’s stride. While ‘90s rave culture was at the heart of the brand, it also embraced other far flung influences. One of the most unlikely came through a the form of 8 and 16-bit video game graphics. The collection looked to one level in particular ‘Green Hill Zone’ from the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog series.

The collection directly references the level’s color palette and design details. Munden explained her love of Sonic the Hedgehog in an interview with Kotaku “For me Sonic is an iconic character—his character design and also his speed makes him one of the coolest gaming characters ever”

She wanted to incorporate the character into the runway presentation itself and with Sega’s blessing she was able to. A life-size Sonic the Hedgehog mascot wearing a custom-fitted graphic tee walked the runway hand-in-hand with Munden. Sonic wasn’t the only notable model on the runway—influential grime rapper JME also walked the show.

Considering Munden’s work across several musical genres, it makes sense that her work in fashion design would be just as cacophonous when it came to cultural influences. Honestly, that's not unlike the genre blending (both musically and stylistically) that occurs on the dancefloor.

The collection’s oversized shapes, sporty fabrics and insane graphic prints perfectly encapsulate the visual excess of nu-rave. The collection earned Munden nods at the 2007 British Fashion Awards where she was nominated for "Best Menswear Designer" alongside Christopher Bailey and Alexander McQueen.

One of C.E’s founders, Toby Feltwell, played a prominent role at XL Records as an A&R. It’s no surprise then, that underground music remains at the heart of C.E’s brand identity. This is apparent not just through some of the clothing choices over the years (think track suits and repurposed military items) but also in their choice of collaborators. Cav Empt have tapped enigmatic producers including Actress and Zomby as models for their lookbooks in the past. For its Spring/Summer 2017 collection, C.E literally re-created a rave on film.

London based director Cieron Magat was tapped to shoot a video that dramatized a late night rave. The clip featured models dancing against a flashing strobe light with a soundtrack by way of Berlin-based producer EMG. The track “Mother Funk” brings energy to the collection as the models party decked out in head-to-toe looks. The collection is effective at showing the clothing in motion and revealing just how easily they fit into the ambiance at an actual rave.

In the past the brand’s output has gone past just clothes as C.E has released a series of limited edition mixes on cassette over the years featuring artists including Rezett, Tzusing and New York based L.I.E.S records. The brand has also done thrown a series of parties in Tokyo, including a live set by mysterious production duo Rezett in tandem with their Spring/Summer 2015 collection.

Before launching Julius, Tatsuro Horikawa was quite immersed in the underground music scene in Tokyo. A regular at underground techno clubs in the city, he contributed visuals to various parties in the scene, curating imagery to suit the mood and feeling of every artist. His role encompassed everything from the art direction—creating flyer art and curating the mood of each party. He’s carried his passion for music with him to his design pursuits. At the outset of every collection, Torikawa always begins with finding the right sound for the collection. In an interview with Indie Mag, he explains his design process.

“The rough mood of the next direction is always in my mind, so I will do research for nearly two months based on that. First, I will listen to music thoroughly. Hundreds of records! Find the sound I like for the collection, and narrow it down for the sense of the times.”

The Julius Spring/Summer 2017 collection looked to ‘90s era techno to inform its designs. In particular it was inspired by the work of Birmingham techno producer Regis and his Doward Records imprint. Regis was known as a pioneer of the “Birmingham Sound” which blended Chicago house with more darker, more industrial styles from Europe which created a distinct sound that was very influential to ‘90s techno. The collection channels this spirit through a collection that utilizes aesthetics and slogans from that bygone era. British Murder Boys, one of Regis’s projects, is branded onto sleeveless hoodies and “I enjoy luxury” (a line from the Sandra Plays Electronics track “Her Needs”) is printed on heavy, industrial-style belts.

While the past informed much of the collection, Horikawa also looked to the musical movements of the present day. More than anything, he wanted to find an artist who can empathize with the brand and the collection. He selected Berlin-based producer Lotic to produce new music for the runway show—an artist whose output he truly admired. He explained his choice to SSENSE

“Cabaret Voltaire was such a big part of the influence behind the collection, and we really wanted to recapture that in a modern way. We were looking for another artist that would be sort of in a similar vein, but obviously not exactly the same thing, and we found that with Lotic. He struck that balance between pop, sexy, industrial and noisy, and we realized there was no one else who could do it.”

The collection is also a departure of sorts from past Julius seasons as it featured a much brighter color palette. The prominent use of white alongside is unexpected from Julius. The shift was intentional as the collection also drew inspiration from retrofuturism. Horikawa explained to Indie Mag

“I wanted to express the future with this collection while using a color palette inspired by the ‘80s, make the “present” a hub and create a collection that connects the future and the past.”

Certainly the Spring/Summer 2017 collection does an excellent job of drawing from Horikawa’s varied interests while outputting clothes wouldn’t feel out of place in a rave scene from a sci-fi film.

The venue for Gosha’s Spring/Summer 2018 collection was carefully chosen for it’s history. The location of the show was home to Russia’s first-ever rave. Rubchinsky had carefully studied images of Russian ravers from the ‘90s and used it as inspiration for the collection. The looks of that era were directly referenced in the collection itself with models wearing outfits that paired oversized hoodies with wide-legged jeans Also presented on the runway were an array of club-friendly items from graphic tank tops with ’90s motifs to fluorescent pink track pants and a tie-dye T-shirt and jacket. There was even a flak vest with plenty of room to carry everything you would need for an all-night rave. These pieces were mixed in with plenty of sportswear items, with full football kits by way of the on-going collaboration with adidas. That's to say nothing of the UK club-ready, Burberry check-covered garments.

The collection also came with a bit of a history lesson through the release of a limited-run zine. Expanding on the show’s theme the introduction of the printed material explains the boom of the underground subculture during the ‘90s.

“As the Iron Curtain fell and an internal crisis consumed the USSR, a new international movement swept the city – young artists and musicians, who had experienced the rave phenomenon abroad, dreamed of orchestrating something similar at home.”

The previously unpublished images from the zine show teen ravers at the popular Russian clubs of the era: Tunnel, Planetarium and Fontanka. In addition to the archive images, there are also interviews with OG ravers like Russia’s first female DJ, Lena Popova and the founder of Russia’s first techno club, Tunnel, Denis Oding. A video produced by i-D goes behind the scenes of the runway show and reveals a new generation of Russian creatives re-shaping music and culture in the country.

As Rubchinskiy becomes a champion and symbol of Russia’s new wave of creatives, his ability to both recontextualize and revive his homeland’s unique cultural past has made him a global force in the present. In the context of his Spring/Summer 2018 collection, the young designer has proven that he has the chops to not just be inspired by the “cool” of those subcultures that came before, but also shape the trends behind what will become cool today.