Cyber Culture

Cyber is the name given to a contemporary subculture having roots in multiple music and fashion scenes including the European and American rave/clubbing scenes and dark culture scenes. Someone who identifies with the cyber subculture can be referred to as a “cyber”, or “cyberkid”. The term “cybergoth” and “cyberpunk” refers to those who those that maintain some common elements with “cyberkids”, but lean more towards a goth or industrial aesthetic.

Cybergoth fashion resembles a combination of rave, rivethead, and goth fashion, as well as drawing inspiration from science fiction. Androgyny is common. Current fashionable concepts include the use of one starkly contrasting bright or neon-reactive theme colour such as red, blue, neon green, chrome, or pink set against a basic, black gothic outfit. Matte or glossy black materials such as rubber and shiny black PVC can be mixed and matched in an effort to create a more artificial look as in the Cyber subculture. These stylistic differences help to discern a Cybergoth from a Cyberpunk.

The common use of a single theme color set against mostly black attire can appear in a variety of forms, including brightly colored hair, artificial make-up, cybernetic patterns such as live LED circuit boards, various forms of body modification and superfluous goggles (especially aviator-style), typically worn on the forehead or around the neck rather than on the eyes. The most common use of a theme color is in the hair and/or eye make-up. Artificial, extended hair or “falls” are sometimes used to create this added effect. Falls can be made of various non-human materials ranging from yarn to fluorescent tubing to electrical wiring. Popular club gear for Cybergoths includes tight black pants, tight armageddon-style black vests or shirts cut from desecrated or ripped, solid or fishnet fabrics resembling costumes from 19th Century Gothic novels, early black and white Gothic horror films from the mid 20th century.

Cyber-influenced, cyberpunk, or cybergoth clothing labels include the British chain Cyberdog, Plastik Wrap, Tripp NYC, Lip Service, Shrine, and shoe and boot manufacturers New Rock, Swear Alternative, Transmuter, and Demonia.

The darkly futuristic costume designs presented in The Matrix are known to have inspired many cyber style clothing manufacturers in the recent past.