The man, the myth, the legend…David Bowie

Few guys before him were as adept at switching between modes and styles as Bowie was. He was occasionally flashy, occasionally minimalist, and always innovative. He opened the door to a manly style that is unconstrained; one without limits. 

This contributes largely to the phenomenal impact that he had on the men’s fashion world – the styles, the makeup, the silhouettes, each of which we can still see today. 

Bright red hair matched the exquisite designs of Kansai Yamamoto… The personification of glamrock style is David Bowie. Flamboyant and androgynous!

David Bowie is also Aladdin Sane thanks to the advent of glam and punk fashion in the middle of the 1970s. With a red flash put on his face and a covert sexy makeup, David Bowie’s appearance becomes iconic and striking.

Bowie never shied away from incorporating feminine connotated pieces throughout his career, but especially during the time of Ziggy Stardust, in order to better divert them. Body suits, leather pants, boots with dizzying heels and platforms were all the rage, largely down to the pioneering of David Bowie and his fashion choices. These platform heels are something that I am no stranger too, wearing them almost every day! And that’s, to a great extent, down to David Bowie’s influence on fashion as a whole. 

There’s something to be said about how he captures androgyny so beautifully, and so seemingly effortlessly. The inclusion of feminine-presenting clothes on a masculine-presenting body, in my opinion, had not been done so boldly, so eccentrically before. And through assigning each of his own different characters different looks, and then switching between each meant that his outfits were always something to be surprised by, something to look forward to. With each colourful, changing and pioneering look the world of fashion opened up just that little bit more and this resulted into boundaries being explored, challenged and crossed.

When he gave up the flamboyance of earlier decades to embrace minimalism at the turn of the century, he was still a trailblazer in the 1990s. The Bowie look then consists of double-breasted coats, pleated trousers, and other slightly more refined yet still distinctive pieces. Thom Browne’s short Trousers, now a signature item of the Thom Browne House, were initially worn by David Bowie.

The extravagant and unapologetically androgynous image of David Bowie has captured the attention of the top fashion designers of our time, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Hedi Slimane, Demna Gvasalia, and Raf Simons!

Early in the 1990s, Bowie, who was inspired by McQueen’s vision—a vision that the establishment had not yet acknowledged—ordered him his clothes for the 1996 performance. Undoubtedly, this frock coat with a Union Jack design was the tour’s high point. A representative element of this cooperation can be seen on the 1997 “Earthling” album cover as well.

It’s no surprise Bowie encouraged many individuals to embrace their true identities and personalities through their clothing, this of which we strongly stand for here at Enjoy, the bolder the better!