The spirit of Buffalo, one of fashion's most electrifying and anarchic movements, is being unleashed once more. A major new London exhibition is casting a spotlight on the radical collaboration between photographer Jamie Morgan and visionary stylist Ray Petri, whose work in the 1980s detonated traditional notions of style and gender.
Emerging from the gritty streets of London, Buffalo was less a trend and more a cultural insurgency. It was defined by a fiercely intelligent and raw energy that blended high fashion with streetwear, athleticism with elegance, and a defiantly queer sensibility with a new, softer vision of masculinity. Their work, most famously published in The Face magazine, became the visual soundtrack for a generation.
The Unlikely Muse: A Young Boy's Enduring Legacy
At the heart of this story is a profoundly personal connection. The exhibition is dedicated to Felix, Morgan's young son with the late actress Kathy Burke, who tragically passed away in 2022. Morgan describes Felix's fearless and joyous approach to dressing as the direct inheritor of the Buffalo ethos—a pure, unselfconscious expression of self through clothing.
'He was Buffalo in its truest form,' Morgan reflects, his work now serving as a poignant tribute to his son's brief but vibrant life. This layer of personal history adds a deep emotional resonance to the celebration of their artistic legacy.
Capturing Icons and Shattering Conventions
The Buffalo lens transformed everyone it captured. The exhibition features iconic, gritty portraits of a young and pre-fame Naomi Campbell, a brooding Jason Donovan, and the legendary Grace Jones, all styled with Petri's revolutionary touch. Their images weren't just photographs; they were powerful statements that challenged the status quo and celebrated individuality.
Petri, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1989, was the magnetic core of the movement. Morgan speaks of their partnership as a meeting of minds, where Petri's stylistic genius would conceptualise a 'virus of an idea' that Morgan would then translate into a timeless visual narrative.
A Legacy That Still Resonates
Decades later, the Buffalo attitude feels more relevant than ever. Its influence is unmistakably clear in the gender-fluid styling and elevated streetwear that dominates contemporary runways and high-street fashion. This exhibition isn't merely a nostalgic look back; it's a recognition that the rules broken by Morgan and Petri continue to empower people to dress boldly and authentically.
By celebrating this pivotal moment in style history, the show reminds us that the most powerful fashion is not about following trends, but about the fearless expression of identity—a lesson as vital today as it was on the streets of 80s London.
