I’ve been ferreting about in the attics again. After finding the Kate Moss issue of The Face from 1990 up there, I did some more excavating and came up with this launch copy of the Next Directory from 1988.
To those of you who are in your twenties, the very idea that a mail order catalogue was able to change our expectations of retail & the way we shop could possibly seem hyperbolic. And if I said that that catalogue was produced by High Street behemoth (& third biggest retail chain in the UK) Next, you’d probably snort with laughter. But back in the pre-on-line retail, pre-democratisation of style 1980s, catalogue shopping was a very different beast.
Downmarket, dull, printed on flimsy paper & based around the installment payment method, mail order catalogue shopping had little connection with style or even customer service: it wasn’t unusual to be given a window of 28 days for delivery.
And then along came retail genius George Davis and his Next Empire which launched in 1982. Next was known for everyday price points, a focus on excellent design, decent fabrics and very good tailoring, previously impossible to find on the High Street.
In 1988 he decided to address the moribund mail order world. He decided that the Next Directory cost would £3, the price of a book back then. It was an investment, a clear pitch at a quality audience, with its hardback covers, ribbon bookmarks and thick glossy paper stock.
There were real fabric swatches:
And a vast team of photographers, stylists and hair & make-up, many of whom would go on to become some of the most respected names in the industry:
Then there were the models:
And hello Yasmin le Bön:
I remember being so excited to receive my copy that I haunted the mail pigeonholes at my boarding school for a week. When it arrived I bunked class to sit and leaf through it, carefully marking out everything I wanted.
And if that sounds strange, remember fashion wasn’t accessible then. There was no internet, so we relied on magazines and newspapers to bring us fashion news. The High Street was a wasteland and I relied on charity shops & vintage to try to copy what I saw in British W (then a short lived newspaper) and Vogue. There was no Grazia interpreting fashion or Topshop setting trends back then. So a glossy fashion catalogue was really, really big news.
Not that I could afford any of it. Clothes were still expensive, relatively. The idea of fast, cheap fashion hadn’t happened yet and if you check the prices in the Directory they aren’t far off what we pay now twenty years later.
Flicking through the Directory in 2010, on the tail end of the eighties fashion revival, it’s refreshing to be reminded what 80s fashion actually looked like for normal people, rather than the filtered version served up these days.
There’s classic aerobics workout gear:
I remember very clearly wanting this striped dress with a deep & desperate longing:
The obligatory 80s pinstriped power suits:
There were mens suits, all boxy shouders and double breasted,
and a look which epitomises the 80s for me: monochrome, riffing on the 1950s:
Ah my youth.
I’ve put a whole load of images up on my LLG archive flickr account here
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So interesting. I’m a copywriter and a big part of my income comes from writing mail order catalogues.
I welcomed this chance to remind myself how different it used to be. Very enjoyable and infomative. Thank you.
Wow — all those amazing photographers, and the lovely Yasmin le Bön. What else have you got in your attic?
This has made me SO nostalgic. I remember being so excited about the launch of the Next directory. I grew up in a small town, I was 15 in 1988 and this was a complete revolution. LIke you, I can vividly remember lusting after some of the outfits pictured.
Sigh… thank you. I got married in 1987 and some my trousseau came from Next (with designer copies made by mother mother — ie Calvin Klein from a Vogue pattern and a glorious pair of Martine Sitbon shoes — most expensive item)such as a long A line cream line skirt — wish I still had it. Gave me a shiver to look at these images. Was at Vogue in early 1980s, then working with Pat Crouch at exactly this time. She was my fashion ed when I was deputy ed of The Magazine. Ah, memories.
Blimey, what a blast from the past, I remember Next opening in the local town, it seemed so sophisticated, with it’s wooden floors and stylish merchandising, so grown up compared to the former Saturday teenage girl hang out of Miss Selfridges (Though fond memories of Miss S too, especially the make up and accessory counters).
For someone who was born on the brink of the 90s, it’s amazing to realise how much has actually changed during my lifetime. My generation of internet addicts have never even had to touch a fashion catalogue.
S
http://notjustmedical.wordpress.com
I remember this so well and I also bought the long cream cardigan with the navy stripe you show. What a perfect journey down memory lane. A simple reminder of how lucky we all are now to have easy access to all forms of fashion whenever we want it xx
I remember being sooo excited by Next Directory growing up in a tiny village with little access to clothes without the train ride to Edinburgh or Glasgow. I had the stripy dress that you coveted and wore it till it fell off. Do you remember the Warehouse mail order catalogue by Jeff Banks around the same time? So excited when that popped through the door too.
Thank you for this little peek into recent fashion history that many of us have either forgotten or were a bit too young a the time to remember now. I teach a university-level course on fashion and writing and would love to share this information with my students. They were all born after 1988, and I’m sure most don’t remember the world pre-internet and and pre-fast-fashion.
I think for 80’s this was a great idea..in these internet days we used to order via online shops and still use sometimes the Victoria Secret catalogue to chose any models from the collection.definitely nostalgic and good for us to remember our very smooth and easy days..thanks for sharing..
How the great have fallen! What has happened to Next? It now stocks fashion for office-workers.
I have looked at all the images. Some of them are really beautiful. I want all of the items that are on the spread with the black and white gingham bomber jacket, and the oversize, soft-shouldered gray trench on the page facing it. I vaguely remember people wearing things like that and thinking that they were god-awful a few years later, but now they look enough ‘avant’ as to be timeless. Were they always?
I remember the first time I bought my first fashion book (which actually didn’t happen a long time ago). It literally changed my life and probably was the reason for me to create a fashion blog.=)
I had that stripey dress! But I’m only 5ft — so had to talk Mum into serious shortening!!Thanks for bringing back so many memories.
I love how the front cover is now so retro that it’s cool again, I keep seeing graphics like that everywhere! Your attic is a true treasure trove!
what a great post! i totally remember the first next directory we had. i think the clothes i like today are actually strongly (subconsciously) influenced by some of those images. there was one shoot in particular i remember that was all black jersey dresses on really tanned models shot in egypt or morocco or somewhere. ironically i find next as a brand nowadays completely uninspiring…
Amina
http://aminasbazaar.blogspot.com
I loved this post! So interesting
I used to be fascinated with their catalogues..I loved that they had the swatches– it all seemed so posh at the time. I’m pretty sure I’ve been receiving a next directory from the beginning. I still love having a look through and I think they are great for childrens clothes. Good quality and a good price.
wow! We had Postalmarket and Vestro in Italy, but the Next directory clearly takes the cake. Great photos and fabric swatches? Awesome.
Unlike online shopping, which is limited and not particularly well-organized, catalog order is still alive and kicking in Switzerland — maybe they should take a page from Next’s vintage book and make decent catalogs, at least.
I remember how excited we were by this. My flatmate and I pored over it and each of ordered something. The other thing Next did really well was clothes for larger women. They stocked size 16s which in those day was certainly not the norm. Thanks for reminding us about this.
Ahhh, the good old days!
Highlight of the year, without a doubt, I thought. Then, assuming some exaggeration on my part I looked up the details ; it was Loadsamoney year — Phil Collins was in a top selling film, Ninja Turtles were the rage and Bros were the top band — it so awful I gave up on London and flew to New York for a decade. Yep, Next Directory was indeed the most exciting thing in the UK that year.
Ah, remember it well. And as Lindsay pointed out, also Jeff Banks’ Bymail (AKA Warehouse) catalogue — with Christy Turlington et al!
After so many posts about your attic findings I can’t help picture your attic as a magic Wonderland, now I really do not expect less than a queen and a white rabbit coming up next.
Despite my age, I do have some recollection of some of these catalogues my mom used to receive home in the 80s.
It was nothing nearly as beautiful as NEXT — that is probably why it took me a longer time to awake my interest in fashion
Thanks for sharing!
Oh dear, you don’t know what a huge favor you did for me by posting all this, LLG! What a superb treat. Thank you!
I recognized some names on those lists, and I recognized some looks I adopted and twisted for myself: white socks and black brogues being one—I wore white cotton socks that I scrunched to a faretheewell with black suede creepers and black miniskirts.
Oh, those thrilling days of yesteryear.
Hi, I am writing an essay about 80s and would like to use some of your photography on next directory. Would you please give me the premission to do that?
Many Thanks
x
This article is quite interesting to for two reasons. Onw because i am working within the next group at the moment and the other because i have a copy of that very first catalogue, still enclosed within it’s bubble pack. It is a wonderful example of beautiful photograghy and style. I do not think any catalogue has ever came close to the quality of the Next catalogue.
How fab to see that you have an original copy of the Next catalogue. I used to be a model and in 1988 I was with Select Models and was booked to work for the Next Directory in America. I think the photographer was Sascha. Can you see my name in the book? And do you think you could send me any pics of the pages I am on as it would be great to show my Mum? I think I was wearing floral dresses and the like… I have very fair skin and long red hair. I would have been 17 years old when it was shot. I would be so grateful for any snaps etc as I am trying to get some archive pics together… Thank you so much. Please email me at samstrattonsims@yahoo.co.uk.