DEAN CHALKLEY: "MOD"

MOD

A VERY BRITISH STYLE

BY RICHARD WEIGHT

In Mod, Richard Weight tells the story of Britain’s biggest and most influential youth cult. He charts the origins of Mod in the Soho jazz scene of the 1950s, set to the cool sounds of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. He explores Mod’s heyday in Swinging London in the mid-60s – to a new soundtrack courtesy of the Small Faces, the Who and the Kinks. He takes us to the Mod-Rocker riots at Margate and Brighton, and into the world of fashion and design dominated by Twiggy, Mary Quant and Terence Conran.

But Mod did not end in the 1960s. Richard Weight not only brings us up to the cult’s revival in the late 70s – played out against its own soundtrack of Quadrophenia and the Jam – but reveals Mod to be the DNA of British youth culture, leaving its mark on glam and Northern Soul, punk and Two Tone, Britpop and rave.

This is the story of Britain’s biggest and brassiest youth movement – and of its legacy. Music, film, fashion, art, architecture and design – nothing was untouched by the eclectic, frenetic, irresistible energy of Mod.

The images are from Dean Chalkley’s “New Faces” project.

“New Faces” is a study of eight young modernists’, bound together by their shared passion for smart dressing, great dancing, sharp suits and R&B. As Dean says: ‘In these dark times where some allegedly find it hard to even get dressed to go to the supermarket, these kids are beacons of light, sharp dressed youths who have so much pride in the way they present themselves and live their lives.’

All the participants are in their late teens or early twenties, trying hard to be ‘faces’ on today’s mod scene. Dean first encountered them last summer when they dropped into his monthly nightclub in north London. They would appear, dance and, after a few visits, even DJ. He became fascinated by their moves and by their style and the idea for ‘The New Faces’ was born.

"MOD" is out on the 28th March.