Warriors of the Discotheque

Coming of age in Dallas in the 1980s was synonymous with two words: Starck Club. The notorious nightclub brought scandal to the bible belt with an injection of European excess at the hands of a then-unknown French designer named Philippe Starck. In an abandoned concrete warehouse in the old part of town, past some forgotten railroad tracks, the cutting edge, raw-concrete venue instantly became an unlikely epicenter for 1980s counterculture. Co-owner Stevie Nicks (yes, that Stevie Nicks) and none other than Grace Jones performed on opening night. It was a celebrity magnet, a haven for the LGBTQ community, the birthplace of America’s electronic dance music culture, but also ground zero for ecstasy, which back then was legal in the state of Texas and sold over the bar.

The Starck Club 1984 Vintage Men’s T-Shirt

Getting into the Starck Club wasn’t easy. The door was watched by Parisian punk queen and society figure, Edwige Belmore, who was discovered by Jean Paul Gaultier at the door of Le Palace in Paris and later ran around with Andy Warhol in New York. Dallas was suddenly becoming a cosmopolitan capital to be reckoned with. On any given night at the Starck club, you could run into the likes of Prince, George W. Bush, Madonna, the Prince of Monaco, Tom Cruise, or Cindy Lauper. Everyone from Ru Paul to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers performed there, earning it a reputation as the hippest nightclub of the decade. That’s right, in Dallas, Texas… read more and view more pics >