The passing last month of Annie Flanders the founder of Details magazine has renewed interest in the most successful of the many independent publications to emerge out of New York’s downtown scene in the 1980s. As the obituary in the New York Times colorfully put it, “In the post-disco era of the early1980s, a combustible mix of art, music and fashion erupted out of the nightclubs, boutiques and art galleries found mostly below 14th Street. That was Ms. Flanders’s territory, chaotic but symbiotic, and its tribes were her people.”
Details continued publishing longer than other downtown magazines having been purchased in 1988 by the publisher Conde Nast who kept it going until 2015. It is the early issues though that remain the most collectible, capturing in their pages a legendary moment in downtown history with club and celebrity coverage by Stephen Saban, fashion pictures by Bill Cunningham, art reviews by Cookie Mueller, and much more.
Gallery 98 has recently obtained many rare issues of Details including the entire first volume: issue 1, June, 1982 – issue 7, March 1983. We also have available the coveted East Village issue from May 1985, a time capsule of the neighborhood’s galleries, fashion outlets, and eateries. An advertisement for the nightclub AREA featuring Michael Halsband’s famous group portrait of 80s artists (including Jean-Michel Basquiat) makes this issue especially desirable for collectors.
Gallery 98 has most issues of Details right up to the early 1990s when Conde Nast replaced Annie Flanders as editor-in-chief. There is also our online exhibition on photographer Bill Cunningham’s fashion coverage, which was an increasingly conspicuous feature in Details in the late 1980s.
