(Image by Ussama Azam)
Few places capture the look and atmosphere of the 1980s quite like Miami. Pastel-coloured Art Deco buildings, palm-lined streets, neon signs, convertibles and an unmistakably laid-back approach to fashion helped create an image of the city that remains instantly recognisable today.
It was a decade that would transform Miami's image and leave a lasting influence on fashion, music, television and popular culture.
Miami Beach at the Beginning of the Decade
The Miami Beach of the early 1980s was very different from the polished destination many people know today.
South Beach was home to an extraordinary collection of ageing Art Deco buildings, many dating from the 1930s and 1940s. By the late 1970s, preservationists were campaigning to protect the neighbourhood's architecture from demolition, and the Miami Beach Architectural District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
During the decade that followed, restoration and renewed interest gradually helped turn those distinctive buildings into one of Miami Beach's defining features.
Their geometric shapes, curved corners and increasingly colourful façades would become the perfect backdrop for the visual style we now associate with 1980s Miami.
Pastels, Palm Trees and Neon
The colour palette of Miami in the 1980s was difficult to ignore.
Pinks, turquoise, aqua, peach and other pastel shades appeared alongside neon signs, blue skies and tropical greenery. Preservationist Leonard Horowitz played an important role in introducing the pastel colour palette that would become closely associated with the Art Deco District.
It's an aesthetic that has been recreated countless times since. Fashion campaigns, album artwork, films and contemporary retro designs continue to borrow from the unmistakable combination of pastel colours, tropical scenery and neon light.
The Miami Vice Effect
No discussion of Miami in the 80s would be complete without Miami Vice.
First broadcast in 1984, the television series helped project a highly stylised version of Miami around the world. Its combination of fast cars, waterfront locations, contemporary music and distinctive fashion turned the city itself into one of the show's stars.
The clothes were equally memorable. Relaxed tailoring, T-shirts beneath jackets, light colours and casual styling offered a distinctive look that became closely associated with the decade.
The show's influence extended far beyond television. The Miami aesthetic became part of the wider visual language of the 1980s, while the exposure also helped draw international attention to South Beach's Art Deco architecture.
Fashion in 1980s Miami
Miami was an ideal setting for the increasingly expressive fashion of the 1980s.
The city's warm climate encouraged lightweight fabrics, shorts, loose shirts, swimwear and casual sportswear, while the decade's love of bold colours and graphics fitted naturally with its tropical surroundings.
Away from the beach, nightlife brought another side to the city's style. Statement clothing, oversized silhouettes, bright colours and glamorous evening looks all had their place.
Sportswear was becoming increasingly important too. Sweatshirts, graphic T-shirts and relaxed athletic clothing were increasingly part of everyday casual fashion — an influence that would continue strongly into the 1990s.
It's one of the reasons the Miami look translates so easily into modern wardrobes. You don't need a head-to-toe 1980s outfit to capture the feel of the era. A colourful graphic, relaxed sweatshirt or vintage-inspired T-shirt can bring some of that character into an otherwise contemporary look.
Music, Clubs and Nightlife
Miami's nightlife added another layer to the city's identity.
Dance music, Latin influences, pop, electro and Miami's developing club culture all contributed to a city that felt energetic and culturally distinctive.
South Beach itself was changing. Vacant storefronts and restaurants began finding new life as clubs during the 1980s and into the early 1990s, while younger visitors increasingly arrived in the area.
By the latter half of the decade, Miami Beach was also attracting the fashion industry. In 1985, photographer Bruce Weber used the Breakwater Hotel for a Calvin Klein campaign, helping encourage further fashion photography in the Art Deco District.
That combination of fashion, music, nightlife and architecture helped cement the image of Miami as somewhere colourful, glamorous and a little different.
Why the 1980s Miami Look Has Lasted
More than four decades later, we're still borrowing from it.
Part of the appeal is nostalgia, but there's also something unusually timeless about the imagery. A palm tree against a sunset, an old convertible beside an Art Deco hotel or a glowing neon sign immediately evokes a particular mood.
The colours are instantly recognisable too. Pastel pinks and blues, turquoise water, tropical greens and glowing neon have become visual shorthand for 1980s Miami.
And unlike some retro aesthetics, it doesn't have to be recreated literally.
A graphic sweatshirt, faded T-shirt, pair of relaxed jeans or retro trainers can introduce some of that influence into an otherwise contemporary outfit.
The result is less about dressing like it's 1985 and more about taking inspiration from one of fashion and popular culture's most visually distinctive eras.
Miami Beach 1985
That unmistakable combination of 80s graphics, American leisurewear and Miami nostalgia was the inspiration behind our Miami Beach 1985 design.
The Brag Vintage Miami Beach 1985 Sweatshirt takes inspiration from the colour, energy and retro graphics associated with the era, creating an easy everyday piece with a distinctly 1980s feel.
Wear it with relaxed or baggy jeans and trainers for a casual look, or layer it beneath a denim jacket when the temperature drops.
The design is also available as a T-shirt for a lighter take on the same retro Miami aesthetic.
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