The Fashion Icon Antony Price, Renowned for Styling Iconic Acts Like Bowie and Duran Duran, Passes Away at Age 80.
Antony Price, the influential UK-based designer behind many legendary styles associated with artists from David Bowie to Roxy Music and even royalty like Queen Camilla, has sadly died at 80 years old.
He was celebrated for his architectural shapes and performative fashion, most notably the pastel suits that became famous from rock band Duran Duran's classic music video for "the song Rio".
"In a tribute, they called him a 'visionary' and a 'kind, intelligent and razor-witted friend,' the band released a statement online."
Price's death comes less than a month after he debuted his most recent collection in London, his first in more than 30 years. The performer Lily Allen walked in a dress evoking the famous black velvet "dress" once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.
A Pioneering Career
Hailing from Yorkshire, where he was born in 1945, Price headed for London during the sixties to attend the renowned Royal College of Art.
Shortly after his graduation, he started his work in menswear at Stirling Copper and was behind the body-hugging, buttoned trousers that The Rolling Stones' frontman Mick Jagger wore during the band's Gimme Shelter tour in the late sixties.
He founded his own label in 1979 and staged his first fashion show a year later. The show was launched by outfits on model Jerry Hall, who also wore the wedding dress Price created for her for her marriage to Sir Mick Jagger.
Partnerships with Stars
A frequent collaborator of musical chameleon David Bowie, Price was the mind behind the iconic jacket the singer wore for his "As The World Falls Down" music video in 1986.
His characteristic talent to blend tailoring for all genders along with his technical proficiency in crafting sculptural silhouettes established him as a "true original," in the words of the British Fashion Council.
By the 1990s, he began working on outfits for Camilla, now Queen Consort, including a number of outfits for her tour of the United States after becoming Duchess.
With a vocation that covered more than five decades, Price held his ultimate fashion presentation in London last month in partnership with the fashion brand 16Arlington.
- Architectural Forms: The core of his aesthetic.
- Dramatic Impact: Influencing music videos and stagewear.
- Genre-Blending Design: Blurring lines between clothing for men and women.
- Working with Stars and Royalty: Spanning iconic musicians and members of the royal family.
Design circles laments the passing to a true visionary whose legacy on style and culture remains deeply ingrained.
