DO-WHAT!
The printed 4–30 band groups DO-WHAT! and STRAIGHT-UP; separate page spans are not supplied.
TMR-000525Magazine object
i-D No. 6
The Sweat Is Best Issue · August 1981 · early landscape 75p issue · Jones by Thomas Degen
August 1981★ Gold Star object
An exceptionally early issue of i-D from its original landscape, dayglow period, published less than a year after the title's 1980 launch. No. 6, retrospectively titled The Sweat Is Best Issue, preserves the magazine while Terry Jones and Perry Haines were still developing its distinctive synthesis of street style, fashion, club culture, photography and graphic experimentation. i-D's own archive identifies the vivid cover as the model 'Jones' photographed by Thomas Degen.
Read the catalogue note →- Publication
- i-D
- Condition
- Good+ / Very Good−
- Completeness
- Not page-by-page verified. Front and rear covers and the photographed contents/masthead spread are physically present. No separate supplement or free gift for No. 6 was identified in research, but this is not treated as proof of full collation.
- Date
- August 1981
Object record
Catalogue note
An exceptionally early issue of i-D from its original landscape, dayglow period, published less than a year after the title's 1980 launch. No. 6, retrospectively titled The Sweat Is Best Issue, preserves the magazine while Terry Jones and Perry Haines were still developing its distinctive synthesis of street style, fashion, club culture, photography and graphic experimentation. i-D's own archive identifies the vivid cover as the model 'Jones' photographed by Thomas Degen. The issue also has notable art-historical reach: MoMA documents Isaac Julien appearing with Joey Attawia in its 'Pull a Muscle' photo spread. The photographed copy retains its 75p cover-price state and period T.J. Informat Design publishing credit.
Why this object matters
The early landscape format and Julien/Attawia spread connect i-D’s formative street-style language to a specifically documented artist history. MoMA’s account reinforces Gold at 9.3 while the limited physical collation remains qualified.
Evidence limits: Not page-by-page verified. Front and rear covers and the photographed contents/masthead spread are physically present. No separate supplement or free gift for No. 6 was identified in research, but this is not treated as proof of full collation.
Score and assessment method
Archive Importance: 9.3 / 10 · Gold Star.
This is a curatorial judgement, not a measurement accurate to one tenth or a market valuation. Read the explanation and its evidence limits together.
How Archive Importance is assessed →Inside this issue
8 selected entries checked against the photographed contents and credits. This is a partial index; page numbers are printed references, not a physical collation.
View the source photograph ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-06
Selected legible entries from the registered photograph. Single page numbers are printed starting pages; ranges reproduce the printed range. This is not a page-by-page inspection or a complete contents transcription. The photographed page does not list Pull a Muscle; the separately sourced Isaac Julien relationship is retained without inventing an entry or page number.
STRAIGHT-UP
Shares the printed 4–30 band with DO-WHAT!; street-style report, not an independently checked range.
CONFI-DE — pow-wow
The contents description names Kent.
Out of Order — The Plungits
Writing: Steve Dixon
The contents explicitly credit Steve Dixon.
Meanwhile on the Other Side of the Pacific
Writing: Dave Claridge
Tokyo report, credited to Dave Claridge.
CONFI-DE — Man vs Machine
Writing: Sharkey
The printed credit is Sharkey; no permanent person identity is inferred.
Bright Sparks
Contents name Simon Forbes, Mark Fairnington and Madness. No creator role is inferred from the description.
Editors
Editing: Terry Jones · Editing: Perry Haines
Both are explicitly listed under editors.
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Connections use the catalogue’s named people, organisations and themes.
Recorded contributions · 4
- Thomas DegenCover photographySource verified
i-D identifies the cover of No. 6 as Jones photographed by Thomas Degen. i-D — The magazine’s cover history
Find other objects with this contribution → - Isaac JulienEditorial subjectSource verified
Isaac Julien identifies himself with Joey Attawia in the Pull a Muscle spread in i-D No. 6. MoMA — Isaac Julien: Riot
Find other objects with this contribution → - Terry JonesEditingSource verified
Editors. Both are explicitly listed under editors. i-D No. 6 — photographed contents
Find other objects with this contribution → - Perry HainesEditingSource verified
Editors. Both are explicitly listed under editors. i-D No. 6 — photographed contents
Find other objects with this contribution →