Antony Price, Famed for Designing for Iconic Acts Like Bowie and Duran Duran, Dies at 80.
The British designer Antony Price, the influential UK-based designer who crafted many legendary styles worn by David Bowie, Roxy Music, and Queen Camilla, has sadly died at the age of 80.
Price was best known for his sculptured silhouettes and theatrical styles, such as the soft-colored suits that became famous from the iconic band Duran Duran's seminal music video for "the song Rio".
"They honored him as a 'visionary' and a 'kind, intelligent and razor-witted friend,' the group posted a remembrance online."
This news arrives shortly after he debuted his latest collection in London, his first in more than 30 years. The performer Lily Allen walked in a dress evoking the notorious black velvet "so-called 'revenge dress'" made famous by Princess Diana.
A Pioneering Career
Hailing from Yorkshire, where he was born in 1945, Price relocated to London at the start of the 1960s to attend the prestigious Royal College of Art.
A year after graduating, he began designing menswear at the company Stirling Copper and was the creator of the form-fitting, button-fly pants that The Rolling Stones' frontman Mick Jagger famously wore during The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" tour in the late sixties.
He launched his own brand in 1979 and staged his first fashion show a year later. The show featured as its opener outfits on the famed model Jerry Hall, who also wore the bridal gown Price specifically designed for her marriage to Sir Mick Jagger.
Working with Legends
A key creative partner of musical chameleon David Bowie, Price was the mind behind the distinctive jacket the star wore for his "the song As The World Falls Down" music video in 1986.
His signature ability to merge tailoring for all genders along with his masterful technique in shaping form-fitting garments cemented his status as a "genuine original," in the words of the British Fashion Council.
During the nineties, he started creating pieces for Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, which included a number of outfits for her US tour after becoming Duchess.
With a vocation that covered over fifty years, Price held his ultimate fashion presentation in London just last month in collaboration with the fashion brand 16Arlington.
- Architectural Forms: The core of his aesthetic.
- Dramatic Impact: Shaping the look of rock and pop.
- Gender-Fluid Fashion: Creating a unique, androgynous style.
- A Client List from Rock to Royalty: From David Bowie and Mick Jagger to Queen Camilla.
Design circles mourns the loss to a true visionary whose impact on style and culture remains deeply ingrained.
