THE CLUB KIDS

In the late 1980´s and early 1990´s a new group of extravagant creatures appeared on New York social nightlife, they were called the Club Kids. They were led by Michael Alig a visionaire that wanted to create a new world for marginalized, hated and different people.He arrived from South Bend, India to New York to study but he gave up to be a party promoter for Peter Gatien, owner of the famous club Limelight, place that after Alig´s parties became extremely popular in New York city. His first “character” was Keoki, a straight guy that met Michael and fall in love with him and wanted to be part of his world, so Alig made of himself the first famous Dj ever, and been the official Limelight´s Dj.

Peter Alig

The Club Kids were notable for their outrageous costumes, their parties all around the city in common places like restaurants or underground stations, and of course because of their drug use, with drugs like cocaine, ketamine, ectasy or heroin.

But Michael Alig didn´t make his dream come true alone, he met James St. James, a new yorker socialite, when he arrived to the city and together they built the beginning of the Club Kids. St. James was so influential at that time, knowing people like Andy Warhol and he provided Michael all of his contacts believing on his dream, a new world where everything was allowed.

James St. James

James St. James & Michael Alig. Their parties and public appearances on TV shows made them stars in all across the USA, making interviews and even doing a tour all around the States to recruit new “characters” to their shows.But not everything was so bright and beautiful. In 1996 one of the Club Kids created by Michael, Ángel Melendez know as “Freeze” was found dead on a box in the middle of the sea, being Michael Alig accused and was himself the one that admited the murdered months later on a tv show.

“Freeze” aka Ángel Melendez

Everyone knew about Michael´s drug addiction, that´s why James St. James started to write all their history together including the 

Alig´s murdered confession. The book 

was publised on 1997 under the name 

of “Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland”, was a huge success and it inspires the documentary “Party Monster: The Shockumentary” that was released 1998, one year later, directed by Barbato. And the success of the Club Kids in the 2000´s came with the movie inspired by the book “Party Monster” directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, released on 2003, and with 

Macaulay Culkin in the role of Michael Alig and Seth Green as James St. James, based on the true story. In the movie some of the original Club Kids were included like Amanda Lepore or the designer Richie Rich. But we can find more celebrity Club Kids like the singer Boy George or the american performer Rupaul, that they always defended the marvelous Alig´s creation. Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland´s cover.

The powerful and colourful style of the Club Kids has been a trend since the 1980´s been an inspiration for designers, photoshoots, make up artists and so on. 

They were excentric and they loved to, everything had a moment, nothing was impossible, that feeling was freedom was what made them so popular. They were famous because of combined normal things like toys, plastic stuff, telephones and all kind of items on their looks, it wasn´t about spending so much money, it was about to transmit to the rest of the world who you are and how you feel in every single moment through your garments, and sometimes with clothes is not enough.

Richie Rich was one of the closest friends of Michael Alig and James St. James, and the one that have transport the essence of the original Club Kids to nowadays with his fashion labelHeatherette, created with his partner Traver Rains. It´s not a surprise that their muse cannot be other than Amanda Lepore, another original Club Kid, know for being one of the first transexuals.

They even created in 2008 a collaboration with MAC Cosmetics creating a line inspired on the famous bright colours that made the Club Kids and Heatherette famous.

And the Club Kids spirit is still alive nowadays creating inspirational parties all around the world in the most prestigious clubs and discos. In Ibiza every summer there is a special night once a week where everyone go dressed up like if they were on the 1980´s and New York and where they play the same music that Keoki used to play. There are still pages to promote their style, one of the most famous ones is where people upload their own pictures dressed like them.Even James St. James love to still go clubbing to remember his good times. Nowadays Michael Alig is still on prison having denied severals proposes of paroles that he asked, the first one for the premiére of Party Monster.