“Fashion..!” Designers on David Bowie

Not for nothing is the new David Bowie Is exhibition at London’s V&A Museum sponsored by Gucci (and could easily be retitled David Bowie Wears). Bowie may have first hit the big time when Glam meant that all manner of unlikely characters were half-heartedly sticking glitter to their faces in the hope of cashing in on T-Rex’s success, but his styling was always more ambitious and self-conscious, as shown by collaborations with designers such as Kansai Yamamoto.

Moreover, it wasn’t just a case of following trends, but of setting them. As Bowie himself noted, “The costume designs that Kansai and I chose for the Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane tours [of 1972–3] contributed significantly to pushing away from the 60s and for creating new sensibilities for the postmodern 70s. Kansai’s brave ideas brought Japanese clothes designs for the forefront of fashion.”

“He was more mobile and inventive that other pop stars of his era,” says Glenn Adamson, co-curator of 2011–12’s Postmodernism exhibition at the V&A, “moving from one frame of reference to another: science fiction, Mod, and an inimitable look based on the full bodysuits worn in the film A Clockwork Orange, which he described as ‘ultraviolence in Liberty fabrics’.”

Those quasi-military suits, in fact, are one of his lasting influences on fashion, as is his distinctive shocked-rooster hairstyling, his theatrical use of cosmetics (which referred to his enduring interest in mime, and were developed in collaboration with Pierre LaRoche), and his “Thin White Duke” look of the mid-1970s, which repositioned the man’s suit in high fashion – “more conventionally masculine,” Adamson notes, “but referring to the cabaret styling of Weimar Berlin”, another of Bowie’s continuing fascinations.

He was absorbing a new culture: there was the leather of the S&M scene, and aspects of the art scene, and he mixed it with a British elegance

The V&A exhibition will show everything from the Japanese kimonos of Bowie’s “kabuki monster” look of 1973 to the tattered union flag jacket designed by Alexander McQueen for 1997’s Earthling – originally unveiled, happily or unhappily, scant weeks before Vanity Fair’s famous “Cool Britannia” cover helped drain the flag of all but its most base associations. Bowie style has drawn from fashion, and influenced the catwalk in turn, for five decades – one trend that shows no sign of stopping. These three designers are among the many to have riffed on Bowie’s looks in recent collections.

ROLAND MOURET: Bowie in Berlin… it conjures up an image of this very British guy, walking around the crumbling city, surrounded by a really strong sense of decadence. I think it’s a very cinematic image. When you leave your own country, you feel the clash of culture and education. When you arrive in a new big city, it’s like walking into the jungle and you can kill or be killed; you have to know where you are on the ladder, and you have to fight sexually, political and in all kinds of ways.

The Berlin period was a transitional period for him, after leaving the glam period behind. He was absorbing a new culture: there was the leather of the S&M scene, and aspects of the art scene, and he mixed it with a British elegance. That era was similar to CBGB in New York, and when La Palace opened in Paris first of all.

I remember when I first came to London in the 1980s, and I went to a club in the Angel, and it was totally different from how it is now. I felt I had to really watch my back. It felt dangerous. There was something of that with Bowie in Berlin. He was a kind of animal. He was a creature who knew what he wanted.

With his androgyny, he broke fashion rules for both men and women. He has a unique ability to break rules in fashion because of that. He imposed his attitude and ego and excellence in a unique way. Some of my favourite images of Bowie might be from the film The Hunger because he plays such a full character, from youth to old age.

Dries van Noten: I’ve always admired David Bowie, not only for his music, but for his talent and his chameleon-like ability to reinforce his image through his use of costume. My first memory of him was in his video for “The Jean Genie” and he has for a long part of my life been a source of inspiration. His energy and vivacity in his music videos are enthralling and when we view them today it harks back to a time when pop and rock music imagery wasn’t as readily available. His playing with androgyny and being at the forefront of glam rock was so powerful. Now that we all have YouTube and 5 MTV channels we are constantly bombarded by videos and as such the imagery is less potent.

We were very inspired by him for both my men’s and women’s collections for A/W 2011/12. His role in the movie Just a Gigolo was the main point we referenced for the men’s collection, and for the women’s collection I had always remembered that photo of Diaghilev (another source of inspiration) in a leotard with a colour block that travelled across the torso from one arm and along the opposite leg. I was astounded to note that this costume was reproduced almost “verbatim” by Bowie for a stage costume during his Ziggy days! For the music of our men’s show we used the song “Golden Years” and decided to continue this link for the season by using his music for our women’s collection. It took us a bit of time to pluck up the courage to write to him for permission and quite a long time to go through the process. The original parts (the tapes) were in bad condition and needed baking at Abbey Road to get them back to working order. To our delight he responded favourably, and in the end we asked 2 Many DJs to rework one of my favourite David Bowie songs, “Heroes”.

I once was told by a friend who was working with him that in their initial meeting they spent five hours talking about art, not even getting to the real reason of the meeting

David Bowie’s music has proven to be timeless and relevant in a moment where many musicians fade into oblivion, and his multitude of guises are an extremely apparent way for anyone to understand how fully he was able to capture the essence of his music through his wardrobe. I don’t think it is limited to designers finding inspiration – I think his contemporaries from the music and movie worlds also look at elements of his career and find things that were avant-garde back in the 70s and 80s, but are still consistent with today’s psyche.

As for my own favourite periods, I would have to say the Thin White Duke and Ziggy.

Todd Lynn: For me, he’s absolutely one of the most important musical artists who have had a profound effect on menswear and fashion. I think that any designer of menswear will have referenced him at some point. After all he made the trench coat rock and roll. He respects fashion and respects fashion designers the way not many male rock stars do. It’s not just about clothes. It’s about the process.

Bowie has always had a strong interest in art, even in his early performances art played a key role in the look of the show. His references for his image and stage shows were broad. I once was told by a friend who was working with him that in their initial meeting they spent five hours talking about art, not even getting to the real reason of the meeting.

As a music icon, David Bowie has lasted the test of time, and the fact that he wasn’t just fashion – more importantly, his music has stood the test of time. He was one of the first artists who used a new record as a new lease on his public personae – it’s what artists do to push the boundaries that allow the world to evolve. (They have a built in fan appreciation base, so they are permitted to be outrageous in public, thus pushing the public along with them, but not only the public – they allow other artists to do the same.) In that way, he anticipated one of the big developments linking fashion and music – the arrival of MTV in the 1980s.

Young people have always made the link from music to fashion, from emulating their favourite artist’s style on album covers and at live gigs from the 1950s to the 70s. But the explosion of MTV caused a sensation on dress of the masses. Suddenly artists’ images were in everyone’s living room and an artist’s fashion image became their most valuable tool. C

 

David Bowie is… at the V&A from 23rd March to 11th August 2013. vam.ac.uk