Murray + Vern vs The Designers Republic
PURE · 1998 fashion catalogue · original-printing attribution · associated “Stick this!” promotional ephemera preserved
1998
Original 1998 Murray + Vern fashion catalogue created in collaboration with The Designers Republic. The 32-page publication combines latex/fetish fashion photography with metallic purple, spot-colour and gloss graphic treatments, turning a commercial catalogue into a distinctive late-1990s design object.
Read the catalogue note →- Creator
- Murray + Vern; graphic design by The Designers Republic
- Publisher
- Murray + Vern
- Edition / printing
- Original 1998 catalogue / first-printing attribution
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Format
- Illustrated fashion catalogue / graphic-design publication
- Pagination
- 32 pages (specialist specification; not page-by-page collated from supplied photographs)
- Condition
- Very Good+ appearance from supplied views.
- Completeness
- Main 32-page catalogue appears structurally intact from supplied views but has not been page-by-page collated. Two Murray & Vern “Stick this!” promotional pieces and a clear bag with a £8 / ISSN 1470-1618 Murray and Vern vs Designers Republic label are preserved with the copy as associated ephemera; they are not assumed to have been standard components of every copy.
Catalogue note
A late-1990s British fashion and graphic-design collaboration joining Murray + Vern’s latex/fetish clothing practice with The Designers Republic’s influential visual language. The object documents the exchange between fashion, subcultural style, photography and experimental commercial graphic design.
Credit / attribution note: Graphic design is credited to The Designers Republic. Specialist documentation lists photography by Peter Ashworth, Jeremy Chaplin, Kevin Davies, James & James and Angelo Valentino. One associated “Stick this!” piece visibly credits Peter Ashworth and identifies the pictured model only as Luanne; no fuller identity is inferred.
Edition / bibliographic note: The physical copy carries a 1998 date and matches specialist records for the original 1998 catalogue. Mandatory book printing-history research found no documented later printing or catalogue reissue; a modern giclée reproduction of the cover is a separate object and is not treated as a catalogue reprint. Absence of a documented reprint is not proof that none ever existed.
Condition note: Very Good+ appearance from supplied views. Covers are broadly flat and clean with light handling, edge/corner wear and small surface marks. Sampled interior pages are bright and clean and the binding appears sound. Associated promotional pieces show light handling; the clear retail/distribution bag has normal storage creasing.
Preserved discrepancies / uncertainties: The copy is accompanied by two Murray & Vern “Stick this!” promotional pieces and a clear bag bearing a Murray and Vern vs Designers Republic £8 / ISSN 1470-1618 retail/distribution label. Their relationship to this copy is physically evidenced, but it has not been established that these items accompanied every catalogue when originally issued.
Research status: Exact publication identity and 1998 date verified from the object and primary/specialist sources. The 32-page specification, print-finishing details and photographer credits are externally documented. No full physical collation or direct dimensional measurement has been made from the supplied photographs.
Why this object matters
The Murray + Vern catalogue and associated promotional pieces are outstanding original evidence of fashion meeting The Designers Republic's graphics. Compared with foundational publication launches, the evidence establishes a distinctive collaboration rather than a demonstrated landmark. Keep the associated pieces' relationship explicit and remove the threshold Gold premium.
Evidence limits: Original-printing attribution is retained; associated promotional pieces are not established as standard components of every copy.
Score and assessment method
Archive Importance: 8.8 / 10.
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 →Research around this object
- What makes a meaningful connection? — Reading across formats, editions and creative practices in The Material Record.
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Connections use the catalogue’s named people, organisations and themes.