Party Like It’s 1992

Celebrating the heady days of the early nineties, the “golden days” of hip-hop when urban culture was rich with innovation and just on the brink of mainstream acceptance, a party called simply “1992″ is gaining popularity in NYC and has even been replicated in cities as far off as Amsterdam and Paris.

From The New York Times:

“The ’90s felt very, very underground, and not everyone really heard it,” said Oscar Sanchez, 30, a break dancer who put together the first 1992 event at the meatpacking district club Lotus. While contemplating themes for a new party, he opted for the music he cherished as a Brooklyn teenager: besides hip-hop and R&B, popular mutations like new jack swing, hip-house and dance hall reggae. “I picked 1992 because it was the pinnacle of fashion and that whole sound,” he said.

1992 marked a stylistic crossroads; within a year, the synchronized dances and whimsical clothing would be bludgeoned into obscurity by the gritty sound and military-style gear of choleric rappers like Wu-Tang Clan, Onyx and Boot Camp Clik.

Contemporary urban music and fashion are doing their part to resurrect the style of 1992, in updated form of course. Nigo and Pharell, whose shop Billionaire Boys Club + Ice Cream has just opened in NYC, create neon-colored, outlandishly printed clothing that smacks of retro glam. Likewise Kanye West’s planned jewelry line, being developed with Takashi Murakami.

The New York Times: The Year of Dressing Dangerously