From Fur Bikinis to Madonna's Pyjamas: '80s New York Street Style Photography by Amy Arbus

Street style photography is now a huge thing you can find it in magazine as well as on hundreds of blogs from around the world, one of the first photographers to create photography of this style was Amy Arbus.

As style photographer for The Village Voice from 1980 to 1990, Arbus often looked to the streets for inspiration, capturing those who stemmed from the city’s thriving subcultures. Having documented outfits of stars like Andre Walker, Madonna and The Clash to the unsung heroes of the Lower East Side, Arbus photos tell the stories of an evolutionary time in fashion.

“The only direction I was given was to photograph anyone that made me turn my head,” Arbus explains. “The theory behind the whole On the Street page for ten years was that these kids were inventing the styles that then were going to be borrowed by [designers such as] Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui.”

(Images © Amy Arbus)