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Driven by a host of rebel cultures emerging in the 70s, London was poised to redefine global pop culture in the decade to follow. The 80s saw the proliferation of homegrown styles like punk, glam, mods, 2Tone, rockabilly, skins and suedes — youth culture was cresting at its greatest height since the Swinging 60s took the world by storm. But this time, it had been sharpened to a razor-sharp edge that came from surviving the 1970s, and knowing that you were truly on your own in the world.

No longer bound by respectability politics that had dominated British society for centuries, youth stood proudly against the status quo. Defying decorum, they embraced anarchy and androgyny alike, transgressing the boundaries of gender expression far before the word “fluid” came into vogue. New Romantic dandies, post-punk peacocks and glamorous goths alike preened themselves on the streets while artists like Grace Jones, Annie Lennox, and Pete Burns paraded through homes in that new-fangled medium known as the music video. With the explosion of visual culture, music and fashion would never be the same. 

Halfway around the globe in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, Jane Simon devoured NME every week, keeping her abreast of the latest developments in the UK music scene. As a teen, Jane got a job writing commercials at rock music radio station 5KA and caught artists like The Police, The Stranglers, and Elvis Costello when they came to town, as well as local punk bands like Radio Birdman. “The underground scene in Adelaide was very small,” Jane says. “I was very into the music: it was new and exciting, and everyone was outraged by it. That was great!”

But in her heart, Jane knew that she was missing out. Then one night, everything changed. The editor of a local music paper had just returned from a trip to London, and Jane gave him a lift home. In the car, he regaled her with tales walking down the Kings Road and bumping into Paul Simonon of the Clash and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. “I just said to him, ‘Oh Donald, you’re so full of shit. I could do that!’” she says. “So I went out the next day, bought a plane ticket, and came to London.”

Kensington Market

Jane, then 20, arrived in the UK with just £200 and her mother’s coat in hand. “I thought I’d be in London for six months — and I’m still here,” she says. After staying a couple of weeks at a Bayswater hostel, Jane rented a room in a house up the New…