Manic Panic is actually punk?
a deep dive into the famous 1977 hair dye company
A while back, I was researching the band Blondie in my downtime. I found myself in a rabbit hole about the New York underground scene (which will probably also end up in another substack post of its own lol) where I came upon the history of Manic Panic and how the brand came to be in the late 1970s. It started with some beautiful pictures I found of a shop owned by two New York sisters, Tish and Snooky Bellomo.
The Native New Yorkers from the Bronx were both embedded in the punk culture hanging out at places like Max’s Kansas City and CBGB. This is where pioneers of the downtown scene could be seen performing or hanging out with names like Television, Blondie, Patti Smith, Ramones, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Talking Head and Joan Jett. The sisters also tipped their toes into the music scene with their group Sic Fucks as well as being backup vocals for Blondie in their early days during the mid-1970s. They made costumes and stage outfits that soon became popular with their entourage which encouraged them to open their own shop, Manic Panic. They would sell their own designs and also second-hand clothing with their personal twist on it. Opening on St. Mark’s Place in July 1977, Manic Panic became the first punk store on U.S. soil to exist.
In addition to the clothing, they sold eccentric makeup and colourful hair dye imported directly from Britain which quickly became their main attraction with people placing orders from all over the country. The rent was cheap at 250$ a month, a result of the high crime rate neighbourhood which housed junkies and troublemakers. However, the location was in the middle of the budding underground scene making it the perfect place to be. The sisters talk about how during the 1977 city-wide blackout, they slept in the store in cardboard boxes hoping to protect their store from looters, who were tearing the neighbourhood apart. Thankfully they were successful and Manic Panic went on to see another daybreak.
The whole operation was managed from their shop until they were sadly evicted in 1989 by their new landlord who didn’t want a DIY store in his building. St. Mark’s Place was now a renowned street and at the start of its gentrification. They relocated to Snooky’s boyfriend's cramped one-bedroom apartment for a year before they found another location to run their wholesale from. The sisters would answer the phone, take the orders, pack the orders and bring them to UPS all by themselves.
When the 2000s came around, Manic Panic had a warehouse and was now a much bigger company with a massive audience reach. The brand started to be worn by celebrities and influencers like Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Jared Leto, Katy Perry, Cyndi Lauper, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian which became major publicity for their products and made them a mainstream company.
What surprised me most was that the brand had punk and DIY roots, unlike its competitors, who are marketed to appeal to the same audience while being managed by a bigger corporation that only cares about the profit it can make off its clientele. To this day, Tish and Snooky are still the co-owners of the brand, and I think that’s very cool.
I hope this was an interesting read. It’s my first big substack post, so I’m excited to hear any comments you may have. Please be kind, English is my second language. (I feel like those Wattpad writers back in the day with their end-of-chapter notes, lol) I want to post more about subjects similar to this, follow me if you want more!
Thank you for reading!
Sabrina
bisou bisou
loveee so interesting!!