Boho, disco and punk: the decade of freedom, glamour and rebellion.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 2 November 2026
What did people wear in the 1970s?
Almost anything: flared jeans and platform shoes, maxi dresses and peasant blouses, wide-collared shirts, jumpsuits and trouser suits. The decade had no single silhouette, which is part of why it still inspires designers.
What was disco fashion?
Clothes for dancing all night at clubs such as New York’s Studio 54: slinky jersey dresses, sequins, halter necks, Lurex and metallic fabrics. Halston, with his fluid, minimal gowns, and Diane von Furstenberg, who launched her wrap dress in 1974, defined it.
Read on Ayerhs: The Impact of the 1970s Disco Fashion Movement · Halston and the Halstonettes
How did punk change fashion?
From around 1976, punk in London turned fashion into protest: ripped T-shirts, safety pins, tartan, bondage trousers and leather, many sold at Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s King’s Road shop. It made anti-fashion a lasting force.
Read on Ayerhs: How Punk Fashion Changed the Cultural Landscape · Vivienne Westwood
Which other designers shaped the 1970s?
Yves Saint Laurent, with safari jackets and his opulent Ballets Russes collection of 1976; Kenzo and Issey Miyake, among the first Japanese designers to show in Paris; and Karl Lagerfeld at Chloé, with romantic, bohemian ready-to-wear.