Battle Jackets and Frail Hulking in a Post-punk Goth Era
Battle Jackets and Frail Hulking in a Post-punk Goth Era
Staples of a grim aesthetic evolving with a sasquatch print in mainstream fashion trends
By Xiaoli Li | April 18, 2023
Photography by Xiaoli Li
If streetwear traces its roots to hip-hop and athletic wear, goth traces its roots to punk music. As the late 1970s progressed, punk emerged as a conscious rejection— an unabashedly skeptical, intensely aggressive worldview characterized by social alienation and a brazen veto to the elite.
Punks took insolent stage names like Johnny Rotten, Rat Scabies, and The Viletones with lead vocals Steven Leckie. The Toronto native’s performances involved cutting himself with broken beer bottles on stage, channelling Iggy Pop and GG Allin all at once. There was a fathomless desire to shock and offend. Grainy archival footage of The Viletones concerts in the 70s showcase spiked dog collars, shredded bloody t-shirts, and jagged edges on guitar straps — hostile fashion statements for a hostile attitude.
The legacy of this era is visible on the busy streets of Montréal’s Quartier des spectacles ahead of a concert by Belarussian post-punk band Molchat Doma. Outfits consisted of saturated buckled platform boots, ragged pair of jeans, battle jackets, and a necklace that looked too sharp to handle.
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The precise origin of the battle jacket is disputed - some attest it comes from biker culture - but its position within the canon of goth and punk fashion is indisputable. It’s a denim, leather jacket, or vest embellished with unique patches and pins to show off affiliations or battle scars from survived mosh pits. It’s a declaration of one’s authenticity, and the idea of buying a pre-made battle jacket is met with loathing.
At the bottom of a battle jacket attire is footwear designed for frail hulking — heavy, chunky boots decked in overworked ornaments accentuating goth’s maximalist footwear style. Popular brands like Doc Martens and Demonia are no strangers to the trend. And although high fashion initially held no place for the punk and goth sect, designers like Jeffrey Campbell, Iris Van Herpen, and Noritaka Tatehana have integrated frail hulking into their designs like Campbell’s’ Lita Boots, Tatehana’s spiked Lady Belles on pop star icon Lady Gaga; and Herpen’s collaboration with United Nude.
Popular brands like Doc Martens and their signature yellow stitching at a Goodyear welt are no strangers to the frail hulking trend of heavy, chunky, platform boots decked with silver-tone ornaments.
No stringent portrayal qualifies a battle jacket or a frail hulking boot. As the post-punk 80s wore on, goth and its attributes splintered into subgenres that make up several fashion remixes with tulle ballerina-style skirts, studded accessories on clutches or allover zippers on a leather battle jacket. The emergence of high consumerism in the 90s brought mall goths, raver goths, gothic metal, and other branches to the culture that continue to bring a unique twist. In Vancouver, Skinny Puppy embraced an industrial aesthetic, and Quebec City’s Handful of Snowdrops blended electronic elements into their post-punk—a forerunner to modern darkwave and coldwave music. Today, Vancouver’s Shannon Hemmett - of post-punk band ACTORS and electropop act LEATHERS - is an artist evolving the melting pots of post-punk and goth aesthetics.
On Saint Catherine St., from Leckie to Hemmett and all the punk goth icons in between, the influence was seen and felt in front of the Molchat Doma marquee.
Intricate patches, pins and embroidery on battle jackets or distressed jeans show off affiliations or battle scars from survived mosh pits. It’s a declaration of one’s authenticity.
