Simon Foxton wasn’t lying when he said, “I like to dress nice-looking boys in silly clothes”. He’s known for sticking brightly coloured and insane clothes on his models, and along with Ray Petri he pioneered mixing sportswear, workwear, and proper fashion in the eighties. He was also one of the first stylists to dictate the look of his shoots as much as any photographer. Foxton, along with Petri, helped make an essentially black look (defined hairless muscle, full lips and broad nose) hot.

Though he shot celebrated hip-hop-influenced sportswear shoots in the mid-eighties, some of his most famous work is in fact specifically set in suburbia where he still lives. Like a lot of fashion guys he likes skinheads, and one of his most famous shoots saw a line-up of skins in front of fire, with posters of communist leaders on their backs. An exhibition of Foxton’s best work and notebooks has just opened called “When You’re a Boy” at the Photographers Gallery in Soho, London.

Photos 1, 2 and 3 shot by Nick Knight, 4 and 5 by Jason Evans, and bottom by Alasdair McLellan.

“When You’re a Boy” runs from 17 July through to 4 October at the Photographers Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, W1F 7LW. Admission is free as a bird.

DARYOUSH HAJ-NAJAFI