Vice Style

Ben Sherman X Madness polo shirt, Ben Sherman jeans, Ray Ban sunglasses, vintage braces; Ben Sherman X Madness polo shirt, Ben Sherman jeans, vintage braces and bracelet

 Oh right, Madness. I once put Madness on at a party when I wanted all the goths to leave and everyone ended up dancing to “Baggy Trousers” on the furniture. The band have backed some range by Ben Sherman, which makes sense, as they both had their parts to play in skin culture, which any idiot knows was originally based on an appreciation of the distinctly black, Jamaican musical form ska, and mod stuff like Ben Sherman.

Ben Sherman X Madness T-shirt, vintage braces

Madness were a ska revival band and subsequently attracted an audience of both black and skinhead guys - the gigs saw a lot of fighting. In 1979 they signed to the 2-tone record label, which gave its name to the music as well as a black and white graphic style. The only reason such a literal, not to mention cheesy representation of black and white mixing, didn't make people puke, was that not being a racist retard, was a radical minority thing back then.

Hence this rather chic 2-tone Madness X Ben Sherman collab and our black and white shoot. If it isn't authentic enough for you, you purist, the white guy doing the Madness dancing is a son of the band's Chas Smash.

Ben Sherman X Madness polo shirt and Harrington, vintage glasses

Ben Sherman X Madness shirt, vintage braces, Chas Smash's family ring

PHOTOGRAPHER: HARRY MITCHELL
STYLIST: SAM VOULTERS
MODELS: KEVIN MOROSKY, MILO SMYTH