Michael Doster

MICHAEL

DOSTER

80/90

Foreword by

REGINA STAHL Beauty Director of

GERMAN VOGUE

One day I received a call from Michael Doster, whom I’d known for a long time – he told me about his plans to edit a book about his fashion photography of the 1980-1990 decade. Furthermore he asked me if I’d like to look at his work of that period and write a few lines about it. Looking at old pictures, he had always been one of my favourite things - and in the Eighties I was a fashion editor for German Vogue and had seen all the collections. So I agreed and arrived, very curious, at Michael’s studio. Had I known what was waiting for me – I might not have been so enthusiastic about the project. Hundred of beautiful photographs, which he had done mostly for editorial and advertising campaigns, were spread out on the floor, like a giant carpet. I felt that Michael loved every single one of them – so when he asked for my opinion about which ones to exclude from the final choice I really had a hard time. A hard time which was also filled with joy because it brought back so many memories. The Eighties were the times when fashionwise girls changed into divas. It was the comeback of dressing up, doing your hair and playing around with a lot of make up. Working women became lady bosses with the discovery of the pantsuit starring jackets with strong shoulders. Everything was quite obvious – the colors, the prints (remember the big success of polka dots?), even the buttons tended to be gold. It was the decade of French designers like Ungaro, Jean Louis Scherrer and above them Yves Saint Laurent. American creators like Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren suddenly made their entrance into the hall of fame. And it was just shortly before the supermodels appeared on the runways… but even the Eighties had beautiful women I like to point out, who will be seen again in the following pages: Janice Dickinson, Carla Bruni and Deirdre, whose boysh haircut might be taken as an earlier style-version of today’s icon Agyness Deyn. To those who – like Michael and me – were part of the Eighties and to those who think they have discovered Eighties styling as the latest moment of chic: look at this book, have a Kir Royal (very Eighties) and simply enjoy!