How the ‘Material Girl’ has shaped modern fashion trends
Madonna’s career as an internationally renowned superstar has spanned the best part of four decades, cementing her status as one of history’s most celebrated artists.
While her musical talents have been critically acclaimed the world over, the singer has also had a significant influence on global fashion trends ever since she first took her place in the spotlight on the world stage.
When one thinks of Madonna’s most iconic looks, perhaps they picture the wedding dress that she wore for her performance of ‘Like a Virgin’ at the 1984 MTV Awards, the cone bra that she donned during her Blonde Ambition Tour in Japan in 1990 or her multiple tributes to Marilyn Monroe.
However, Madonna has done far more in the world of fashion than simply stir conversation due to her choice of apparel or spark a few fashion fads here and there.
The way in which the singer used her style to represent her identity was a fresh concept when she first came onto the music scene.
This became even more apparent following Madonna’s first major film role in the 1985 Desperately Seeking Susan, which saw people all around the world attempt to replicate her leather jacket, large hair bow, abundance of jewellery and loose-fitting trousers.
Madonna’s former publicist Liz Rosenberg has previously spoken about her first meeting with the young star, where she oozed confidence while wearing a signature “black outfit with a hundred rubber bracelets on each wrist.”
It’s evident that the singer had a clear understanding both of who she was and who she wanted to become from the very beginning of her career.
“I think Madonna was one of the very first brands in her own right,” celebrity fashion stylist Alex Longmore tells The Independent. “She had her own identity and she stuck to it.
“She has always represented rebellion, reinvention and change. She has been on the cutting edge of style, continually evolving and telling a story with her outfit choices and expressing herself with fashion since the 1980s.”
The coalescence between Madonna’s fashion choices and her identity set her apart from the crowd and inspired her fans to explore their own evolving identities in the process.
The effect that she’s had over the years, and will undoubtedly continue to have in the future, can aptly be described as a “phenomenon”, as stated by academic Douglas Kellner in his book Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity and Politics between the Modern and the Post-Modern.
“Madonna’s constant change of image and identity promoted experimentation and the creation of one’s own fashion and style,” he wrote.
1/40 1984
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Madonna on ‘Saturday Show’, TV Programme
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Madonna performing in the 80s
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4/40 1985
Madonna in ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’
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Madonna – Material Girl music video
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Madonna and Sean Penn in ‘Shanghai Surprise’
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Madonna – Papa Don’t Preach music video
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8/40 1987
Madonna performing at Wembley Stadium
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Griffin Dunne and Madonna in ‘Who’s That Girl’
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Fans wait for the arrival of Madonna at Heathrow Airport
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Madonna performs on stage as part of her ‘Who’s That Girl World Tour’ at Roundhay Park, Leeds
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Madonna – Like a Prayer music video
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14/40 1990
Madonna performing on the Blond Ambition Tour in Tokyo, Japan
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15/40 1990
Madonna strikes a pose in her 1990 video for ‘Vogue’
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16/40 1990
Madonna opening her Blond Ambition World Tour
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17/40 1992
The Launch of the book ‘Sex’ by Madonna
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18/40 1995
Madonna performs at the Brit Awards
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Madonna is joined by actors Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas in London, as music recording began on the film version of ‘Evita’
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Madonna – Ray of Light music video
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21/40 2000
Madonna and Guy Ritchie leave Dornoch Cathedral after having their baby Rocco Christened
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Madonna with the Best Female award at the MTV Europe Music Awards held at the Globe Arena in Stockholm
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Madonna and British film director Guy Ritchie at the Evening Standard British Film Awards, held at the Savoy Hotel in London
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Madonna with her MTV Award for Best Female Artist, during the MTV Awards ceremony at the Filaforum near Milan
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25/40 2001
Madonna celebrates American Independence Day by kicking off the UK leg of her Drowned World tour with a spectacular show at Earl’s Court in west London
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Queen Elizabeth II meets Madonna at the World premiere of “Die another Day”, at the Royal Albert Hall
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Britney Spears kissing Madonna at the MTV video music awards in New York
Frank Micelotta/Getty
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Madonna at the launch of her first children’s book The English Roses held at the Kensington Roof Gardens, London
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29/40 2004
Madonna performs during the London leg of her ‘re-Invention’ world tour
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30/40 2005
Madonna appears backstage at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon
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31/40 2005
Madonna performing at G.A.Y in London to launch her new album ‘Confessions On A Dancefloor’
PA
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Madonna – Hung Up video
Warner Bros. Records
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Madonna collects her award for Best International Female, on stage at the Brit Awards 2006
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Madonna performs during her ‘Sticky and Sweet’ tour at Wembley Stadium
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Madonna performs during her ‘Sticky and Sweet’ tour in Cardiff
PA
36/40 2015
Madonna performs at the 2015 Brit Awards in London
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37/40 2016
Madonna and fashion designer Riccardo Tisci attend the “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology” Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
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Madonna at the “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between” Met Gala
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39/40 2018
Madonna speaks to the press at a news conference in Blantyre, Malawi. She has adopted four Malawian children and was in the country to celebrate the first anniversary of the Mercy James Centre for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care, named after one of her adopted daughters
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Madonna and Jean Paul Gaultier arrive for the 2018 Met Gala
AFP/Getty Images
1/40 1984
Rex
2/40 1984
Madonna on ‘Saturday Show’, TV Programme
Rex
3/40 1980s
Madonna performing in the 80s
Rex
4/40 1985
Madonna in ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’
Rex
5/40 1985
Madonna – Material Girl music video
Sire/Warner Bros. Records
6/40 1986
Madonna and Sean Penn in ‘Shanghai Surprise’
Rex
7/40 1986
Madonna – Papa Don’t Preach music video
Sire/Warner Bros. Records
8/40 1987
Madonna performing at Wembley Stadium
Rex
9/40 1987
Griffin Dunne and Madonna in ‘Who’s That Girl’
Rex
10/40 1987
Fans wait for the arrival of Madonna at Heathrow Airport
PA
11/40 1987
Madonna performs on stage as part of her ‘Who’s That Girl World Tour’ at Roundhay Park, Leeds
PA
12/40 1988
Rex
13/40 1989
Madonna – Like a Prayer music video
Sire/Warner Bros. Records
14/40 1990
Madonna performing on the Blond Ambition Tour in Tokyo, Japan
Rex
15/40 1990
Madonna strikes a pose in her 1990 video for ‘Vogue’
Sire/Warner Bros. Records
16/40 1990
Madonna opening her Blond Ambition World Tour
Rex
17/40 1992
The Launch of the book ‘Sex’ by Madonna
Rex
18/40 1995
Madonna performs at the Brit Awards
PA
19/40 1995
Madonna is joined by actors Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas in London, as music recording began on the film version of ‘Evita’
PA
20/40 1998
Madonna – Ray of Light music video
Maverick/Warner Bros. Records
21/40 2000
Madonna and Guy Ritchie leave Dornoch Cathedral after having their baby Rocco Christened
PA
22/40 2000
Madonna with the Best Female award at the MTV Europe Music Awards held at the Globe Arena in Stockholm
PA
23/40 2000
Madonna and British film director Guy Ritchie at the Evening Standard British Film Awards, held at the Savoy Hotel in London
PA
24/40 2000
Madonna with her MTV Award for Best Female Artist, during the MTV Awards ceremony at the Filaforum near Milan
PA
25/40 2001
Madonna celebrates American Independence Day by kicking off the UK leg of her Drowned World tour with a spectacular show at Earl’s Court in west London
PA
26/40 2002
Queen Elizabeth II meets Madonna at the World premiere of “Die another Day”, at the Royal Albert Hall
PA
27/40 2003
Britney Spears kissing Madonna at the MTV video music awards in New York
Frank Micelotta/Getty
28/40 2003
Madonna at the launch of her first children’s book The English Roses held at the Kensington Roof Gardens, London
PA
29/40 2004
Madonna performs during the London leg of her ‘re-Invention’ world tour
PA
30/40 2005
Madonna appears backstage at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon
PA
31/40 2005
Madonna performing at G.A.Y in London to launch her new album ‘Confessions On A Dancefloor’
PA
32/40 2005
Madonna – Hung Up video
Warner Bros. Records
33/40 2006
Madonna collects her award for Best International Female, on stage at the Brit Awards 2006
PA
34/40 2008
Madonna performs during her ‘Sticky and Sweet’ tour at Wembley Stadium
PA
35/40 2008
Madonna performs during her ‘Sticky and Sweet’ tour in Cardiff
PA
36/40 2015
Madonna performs at the 2015 Brit Awards in London
PA
37/40 2016
Madonna and fashion designer Riccardo Tisci attend the “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology” Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
Getty
38/40 2017
Madonna at the “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between” Met Gala
Getty
39/40 2018
Madonna speaks to the press at a news conference in Blantyre, Malawi. She has adopted four Malawian children and was in the country to celebrate the first anniversary of the Mercy James Centre for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care, named after one of her adopted daughters
AP
40/40 2018
Madonna and Jean Paul Gaultier arrive for the 2018 Met Gala
AFP/Getty Images
“Her sometimes dramatic shifts in image and style suggested that identity was a construct, that it was something that one produced, and that it could be modified at will.
“The way that Madonna deployed fashion in the construction of her identity made it clear that one’s appearance and image helps to produce what one is, or at least how one is perceived to be.”
It’s not just Madonna’s bold sense of style that impacted fashion trends, but also her tendency to transform her look over time.
The singer has gone from spearheading the punk pop look of the 1980s to bringing old-school Hollywood glamour to the 1991 Oscars, going for a more casual look for her rendition of ‘American Pie’ and showing off her regality in haute couture designs for her record-breaking Super Bowl half-time show six years ago.
She’s made her fans feel as though they have more freedom to test out different versions of themselves, just like their idol.
“By exploding boundaries established by dominant gender, sexual and fashion codes, she encourages experimentation, change, and production of one’s individual identity,” wrote Kellner.
With more than two million followers on Twitter, 15 million followers on Instagram and 17 million on Facebook, Madonna has continued to reign as one of the most influential individuals in fashion in the modern age of social media.