Left to right: Editor Bob Colacello, model Jerry Hall, artist/publisher Andy Warhol, singer Debbie Harry, writer Truman Capote and jewellery designer Paloma Picasso at a Studio 54 party for INTERVIEW magazine in an undated photo.Robin Platzer/AFP/Getty Images
Halton. Gucci. Fiorucci. When Sister Sledge’s hit song He’s the Greatest Dancer dropped in 1979, it didn’t just mark the end of an era – it embodied the style and spirit that defined it.
What makes the Billboard hit so special is how it captured the attention of the luxe-brand-loving crowd that Studio 54 was known for attracting. This iconic midtown Manhattan nightclub became a hot spot where celebrities like Andy Warhol, Michael Jackson and Bianca Jagger mingled with designers such as Stephen Burrows, Diane von Furstenberg and Calvin Klein, creating an unforgettable fusion of fame and fashion.
While Studio 54 is often cited as the end-all and be-all reference for disco glam, it is far from its originator. Years before the club lifted its first velvet rope, the seeds of disco were planted at The Loft, a small space in New York’s downtown core. The Loft wasn’t a club; it was the apartment of Italian American David Mancuso, a DJ and gay-rights’ advocate whose legacy was creating safe queer nightlife spaces. It was there that he held the first “Love Saves the Day” party on Valentine’s Day in 1970, which music and fashion historians consider to be disco’s birthday.
“What we wore was like a love letter to all the things that disco connected people to,” says Kathy Sledge, the prolific lead singer of Sister Sledge, from her home in Pennsylvania. As the main vocalist of the group, she witnessed how she and her sisters were able to unite so many people at a time when they were divided by politics, economics and the growing pains that come with change.
“Our clothes and our sound were international – that was intentional. I was wearing a few Fiorucci looks on tour for years while we sang anthems that the gay community, the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] and women’s rights groups embraced. Disco also brought a new way of thinking – it was so accepting, and it demanded respect.”
Back in the late 1990s, armed with a fake ID, I quickly realized that disco wasn’t just about the music – it was about the vibe: joy, ecstasy and unity on the dance floor. I missed disco’s original heyday in the 1970s, but its spirit lived on through its sister genre, house music.
In both instances, dance floor divas were the one to watch. What they wore in both eras embodied resilience and celebration. Kathy Sledge and her glitzy siblings were pioneers of designer disco wear, sporting a flared denim look long before Kendrick Lamar made his own 40-yard dash in wide-legged Celine jeans at the Super Bowl halftime show.
In fact, the members of Sister Sledge were among the few hitmakers who styled themselves in the Italian and French labels they sang about, clothing from countries that were among the first to catch disco fever. Fashion labels like Krizia and Missoni mirrored the looks favoured by disco stars, sparking the peak of polyester, pointed collars and lamé.
The members of Sister Sledge were among the few hitmakers who styled themselves in the Italian and French labels they sang about.Echoes/AFP/Getty Images
“We weren’t a gown group,” Sledge says, explaining that her musical family was miles away from the demure uniforms of Motown girl groups such Martha and the Vandellas or the Supremes. “We were really modern, young, individual Black women. I wanted to be independent and I wanted to show that.”
In sync with vibrant wardrobes, social issues were tackled with tambourines, string arrangements and lyrics that propelled new conversations about female empowerment, LGBTQ+ representation and civil rights.
Sister Sledge’s We Are Family championed the power of sisterhood. Donna Summer’s Love to Love You Baby explored sexuality from a woman’s perspective. Labelle’s Lady Marmalade put the realities of sex work into the spotlight. Cheryl Lynn’s Got to Be Real addressed equality, and the lack thereof. Diana Ross’s I’m Coming Out tackled gay liberation. Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive taught us how to grow strong, and “how to carry on” after a bad romance.
For artists like Candi Staton, whose massive hit Young Hearts Run Free climbed up three different Billboard charts in 1976 (dance, soul and pop), the rise of disco was like a beacon of hope.
“I went from being on the rough Chitlin’ Circuit to travelling around the world to sing at all these beautiful, big gay clubs,” Staton says on zoom from her home in Atlanta.
“I was made to look like a queen, got the best food, best wine, wore the best fashion and I was treated like royalty. This was not the case when I was singing gospel in the early days. Black singers used to be so poorly treated and barely paid.”
Soon to turn 85, Staton just has released her bluesy 32nd album, Back to My Roots, but will return to the dance genre on an upcoming LP by Groove Armada.
Songwriter David Crawford wrote her first disco hit, Young Hearts Run Free, after meeting Stanton and learning about an abusive relationship she eventually broke free from. The track changed her life.
“I had a gun held to my head and I was almost thrown off of one of the top floors of a hotel in Las Vegas. Had it not been for Young Hearts, God and disco, I would have been another statistic of domestic violence. I was saved so I could teach other people in my situation that they could be liberated.”
That sense of freedom extended to her wardrobe. During the November, 1977, taping of The Midnight Special, Staton wore a powder pink jumpsuit with diamante dungaree clips, a perfect example of disco’s colourful, confectionary-inspired couture. Another iconic look was a leather and feather ensemble Staton wore in 1976 for Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. The latter outfit will be featured at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, showcasing the crossover influence of disco divas on other music genres.
“What I wore then was the epitome of class; they were clothes that uplifted me and the audiences,” Staton reflects. “It wasn’t just me. Disco helped so many Black women in R&B have long careers and lead lives where they looked as good as they sang. Disco was about the beautiful people who dressed right.”
Margaret Trudeau dances at Studio 54, in New York.The Associated Press
The music and its style have endured – despite setbacks like the “Disco sucks” movement, sparked by shock jock Chicago DJ Steve Dahl, who organized the infamous record-burning at Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979.
Disco’s energy lives on through artists like Lady Gaga, Gavin Turek, Dua Lipa and Beyoncé Knowles (check her Renaissance tour costumes for proof), who draw inspiration from the genre. These artists keep the disco divas’ torch burning, uniting people on the dance floor in a divided world
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Disco on Display
On the heels of disco’s 55th birthday, a host of exhibits and cultural happenings are devoted to exploring the beauty of the boogie
Exhibits
An exhibit called Disco, I’m Coming Out at the Paris Philharmonic explores disco’s fashionable and political history (on display until Aug. 17). Italy’s only disco museum opened in Riccione last spring in the region’s biggest nightclub, Cocoricò. The space traces the genre’s evolution into electronic dance music (permanent). Milan’s Triennale Museum features an exhibit on Elio Fiorucci, the fashion designer who helped define the glossy disco aesthetic (on display until March 26).
Concert
The Toronto Symphony and principal pops conductor Steven Reineke put on a tribute to the funk phenomenon called Disco! Bee Gees & Beyond. (three shows on June 17 and June 18).
Now streaming
A BBC-produced documentary series called Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution is available on PBS. The film speaks to how DJ David Mancuso – and figures like Sister Sledge – ushered in a decade of radical self-expression. Disco’s Revenge, a documentary by Canadian directors Omar Majeed and Peter Mishara, is now available on Crave. It includes interviews with disco pioneers Nona Hendryx, Martha Wash and former Studio 54 DJ, Nicky Siano.
