History of the Gothic Subculture

Figure 8.1 : Bauhaus new and final Album

In an article by Alicia Porter Smith on www.gothicsubculture.com, she mentions that the origin of the Goth subculture "...is usually placed in 1979 when Bauhaus released the song "Bela Lugosi's Dead."  Going on to note that "The band originally intended the song to be tongue-in-cheek; however, many young fans latched onto this mysterious, eerie sound as inspiration for the budding gothic subculture."

Bela Lugosi's Dead: A song released in 1979 on the Small Wonder label by the band Bauhaus. The lyrics are:

White on white
translucent black capes
back on the rack.
Bela Lugosi's dead.
The bats have left the bell tower,
the victims have been bled,
red velvet lines the black box.

Bela Lugosi's dead.
Undead Undead Undead.

The virginal brides
file past his tomb,
strewn with time's dead flowers,
bereft in deathly bloom,
alone in a darkened room
the count.

Bela Lugosi's dead.
Undead Undead Undead.

Oh Bela, Bela's undead.

She goes on to describe the three generations of Goths, ending of with : 

"First and second generation Goths look suspiciously upon the new generation, doubting their authenticity and disliking the exposure they give to a subculture which would prefer to remain underground. The new generation is not presently well received by their elders, but time may prove otherwise. It would be difficult to predict what the future holds for the Gothic movement. After over 20 years, it continues to change, grow, mutate and adapt, making it one of the longest surviving youth subcultures in existence." 

Michiel van Staden

Emperor Qin's Terracotta Army

 Figure 7.1 : The 1974 discovery of buried vaults at Xi'an filled with thousands of terra cotta warriors stunned the world.

According to an article on archaeology.about.com, the 'Chinese Terracotta Army', as they have become known, is an army of unique statues created out of terracotta clay, which was discovered in 1974.  Soon after taking the thrown in the year 247 BC, ruling over a newly united China, after a period of fierce power struggles, Qin Shihuang ("First Emperor of Qin"), as he renamed himself, ordered the construction of his own tomb, reportedly as a representation of his control over the resources from the area, together with an attempt to continue this into the afterlife.


Within the same article it is mentioned that it is evident that the statues were painted in vivid colors, although most of the paint has gone.  This thus indicates that the black materials used by Kim Gush in her fastrack collection, was of her own creation, through influence from other sources.  The very dark colors which have probably become the key message that has generally been taken from the collection, adding to the Gothic interpretations, thus seems to almost cloud what she lists as her main influence.


Michiel van Staden

Thoughts from the Industry

Bronwyn Day, Fashion Director GLAMOUR Magazine:

'Young talented fashion designers are extremely influencial to the arts and cultural landscape of South Africa.

Fashion design as an art form becomes a mini cult medium through which designers can develop a signature aesthetic and gather a consumer following.

This essentially leads them to partnering with retailers/shop owners as well as exposure in magazines, and this in turn feeds the economic machine of the developing brand/business.

The fashion arena has now branched out into online territory, which has widened the net for young designer exposure through fashion blogs and websites.

Financial restraints are one of the biggest factors when looking at young talent on a global scale.However, slowly but surely smaller independent labels in SA are branching out into the overseas market by means of an ever growing Africa and SA Fashion Weeks.

This should therefore not deter the young designer, but rather make them hungrier and more determined to get more international exposure for their developing brands.

At the end of the day, a talented and focussed designer should keep their eye on the ball. Streamline the brand with each new collection, get the exposure in print and online, and manage the finance side of things in order to develop and establish regular customers.'

Palesa Selebogo

Fast Track Designers

Figure 6.1 : Hugo Fleur

Figure 6.2 : Kim Gush

Kim Gush (1 of the winners) and Hugo Fleur (finalist) were among the Foschini fastrack designers at the Mercedes Benz fashion week. These designers need fewer introductions to the new burst talent in the fashion industry. 

AFI described Kim Gush style as,” combines her training in film and fashion with her passion for ancient histories to create stories of the untold. She explores both the traditional and modern in her construction meshing old and new worlds into her own hybrid creations”. Kim Gush is more of telling the untold secrets of the ancient and creating them in a more costume manner than of a fashion related sense. With Hugo Fleur being more the opposite of what Gush does, Nicola Cooper (LISOF lecturer) described Hugo’s collection as one that resembles Alexander Mc Queen. Both collections draw the same inspiration looks but are executed in two different ways.

“Structural difference between costume and fashion with regard to time- stability and immutability of costume as opposed to giddiness of fashion and metaphorical space- a normal versus a topsy-turvy world (Lotman 1993).

Figure 6.3 : Hugo Fleur  Mercedes Benz fashion week Collection

Figure 6.4 : Kim Gush Divine Rule Collection

Nonti Mtshweni