Yesterday I published a couple set pictures of Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, Stella Maeve as Sandy West and Alia Shawkat as Robin from the upcoming The Runaways film based on the 70s teenage girl rock band.
In the pics, the girls were all wearing t-shirts with their character’s name emblazoned across their bosom. I called into question whether the shirts were for publicity or use in the film and one of our readers, Steve, answered with the lowdown and an image to back it up.
Basically when The Runaways was formed, manager Kim Fowley wanted both Cherie and Marie to front the band. Marie had aspirations of being an actress, and chose to leave the singing limelight to Cherie (though they would later release an album together called “Messin With The Boys” in 1980 for Capitol). Cherie wanted Marie to be involved in the band somehow, so Marie ended up designing stage clothes for the band, which I believe included those shirts. The band were frequently shot wearing those shirts – though not always together. That pic (see below) was from the Spring ’76 issue of “Who Put The Bomp” magazine, which featured photos of the band playing at the legendary Starwood Club in LA (I believe Jan 21, 1976). It was one of their first big gigs with a celeb-packed crowd that featured Robert Plant, who was also photographed in a similar shirt that had his name below the Runaways name and the message – “loves Kim.”
Check out the pic Steve sent below along with set pics snapped of the girls a few days ago. Other than Joan Jett wearing leather pants in the film (which she did not at that age), the wardrobe designers have clearly done their Runaways research.
