DAVID BOWIE PUSHED THE LIMITS OF MUSIC, ART & FASHION
Bowie was an artist and an explorer that embodied true individuality that our generation craves
by Fiona Ma
In the age of our commoditised and sanitised world where stylists choose our clothes, where record labels prescribe our playlist and PR organizations choose the words we hear; David Bowie was a true individual, the authentic antagonist to pop culture.
A rare photo of David Jones before he changed his name and embodied the identity David Bowie
"I'm just an individual who doesn't feel that I need to have somebody qualify my work in any particular way. I'm working for me." 2002
Experimenting on his own terms, Bowie was an un-defineable force. He never let established notions of ‘what should be’ govern his discourse evidenced through writing songs about being an outsider - an alien, a misfit, a sexual adventurer - who took risks before it was in vogue to whisper the term gender-blending.
Angie and David Bowie, pictured in 1974 in Amsterdam, were known as the first couple of glam rock
Free-spirited, he was much more a part of the avant-garde than the ‘pop-star’ label that he was often classified as. Dispirited with what was on offer, Bowie’s style choices reflected his experiments in persona. Ditching the boy for the alien androgyne that was Ziggy Stardust – his flaming locks and hand-made clothing ignited his burgeoning legacy. A constant surge of dynamic self-creation, Bowie liberated all creative boundaries, “I really had a hunger to experience everything that life had to offer, from the opium den to whatever. And I think I have done just about everything that it’s possible to do”.
David Bowie, the style-icon who was always changing and embraced the extra-wide leg before it became a trend
David Bowie with then wife Angie on a night out with Bianca Jagger, July 1973
We hunger for icons like David Bowie, sincere and fearless in his self-conception that embody the spirit of a true artist; Bowie’s rejection of society’s conventions liberated us, a legend that still continues to influence us today.
David Bowie & Iggy Pop relocated to West Berlin to wean themselves off their drug addictions. In the late 70’s, Bowie helped Iggy write and produce Lust for life
“Fame itself… doesn’t really afford you anything more than a good seat in a restaurant.”, 1990
