Stephen Linard
Stephen Linard | |
|---|---|
Linard in 2023 | |
| Born | 26 March 1959 London |
| Died | 10 March 2024 (aged 64) St Leonards-on-Sea |
| Alma mater | Saint Martin's School of Art |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Movement | |
Stephen Linard (26 March 1959 – 10 March 2024) was a British fashion designer. He studied at Saint Martin's School of Art and was part of the Blitz Kids and the New Romantic movement.
Early life and education
Linard was born on 26 March 1959. He attended Southend College of Technology and from 1978 to 1981 studied at Saint Martin's School of Art and graduated with a first.[1][2] He assisted Stephen Jones' final student show in 1979. The following year, Linard presented a fashion collection he designed titled "Neon Gothic" at the Saint Martin's Alternative Show;[3] the models included Boy George and Princess Julia.[4]
Linard's graduate show in 1981 was titled "Reluctant Emigrés"; historians Alan J. Flux and Daryl F. Mallett described the menswear showcased in the show as "instantly covetable, thoroughly masculine in an entirely new way, and electrifying in the way that only the truly innovative can be".[3]
Career
Around this time Linard was part of the Blitz Kids – a group of creatives who regularly attended the Blitz Club in Covent Garden and established the New Romantic movement. Linard created costumes for artists such as David Bowie, Boy George, and the Pet Shop Boys.[5][2]
Linard made his first womenswear collection in 1982, "Railway Children".[4] He moved to Tokyo in 1983 where were worked as a designer for Jun Co until 1986.[4] The year he set up design company Powderblue; it the following year after the Black Monday stock market crash.[1] In the late 1980s Linard hosted a regular theme night at the Wag Club in Soho, "Total Fashion Victim".[6][7] He worked as a designer with Notre Dame X, Bigi, and Bazaar.[7] In the 1990s Linard was a designer for Drake's.[8]
In 2000, Linard and Paul Booth established the fashion label Linard. Explaining the decision, Linard said "I'm so bored with everything in the shops, menswear is so dull and conservative these days. It's all black and grey and beige and taupe. You just can't find exciting clothes for men anymore. There was only one thing to do, and that was to start making my own again."[8] In the late 2010s he was working as a fashion and design consultant.[3]
Later life
Linard moved to St Leonards-on-Sea in 2020.[4] The town's Rogue Gallery hosted an exhibition in 2023 of Linard's works, including drawings and garments. It was titled "Total Fashion Victim" after the regular event he hosted in Soho in the 1980s.[1][9] His work also featured in exhibitions at the Fashion and Textile Museum ("Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London", 2024–25)[10][11] and the Design Museum ("Blitz: the Club That Shaped the 80s", 2025) .[12] Linard died on 10 March 2024.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d "Stephen Linard, flamboyant fashion designer who clothed David Bowie and Boy George – obituary". The Telegraph. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ^ a b Helmsley, Andy (12 March 2024). "Hastings says farewell to charismatic fashion designer who created clothes for David Bowie". Sussex World. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ^ a b c Borrelli-Persson, Laird (4 May 2018). "Blitz Kid Stephen Linard's 1980 Neo-Gothic Collection Anticipated "Heavenly Bodies" by 38 Years". Vogue. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d Johnson, David (12 March 2024). "The life of Blitz Kid fashion designer Stephen Linard". The Standard. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
- ^ Dunworth, Liberty (11 March 2024). "Tributes paid after death of Blitz Kids and David Bowie '80s designer, Stephen Linard: "One of the craziest of eccentrics"". NME. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ^ Tony, Fat (13 March 2024). "Are we still boring from Covid? Let's start dancing again in London". The Standard. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
- ^ a b "Stephen Linard". Rogue Gallery. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
- ^ a b Sharkey, Alix (5 October 2000). "'It's Beau Brummell meets Led Zeppelin' Bowie, Boy George, the Pet Shop Boys - they all wore Stephen Linnard's clothes in the Eighties. Now he's back". Evening Standard. p. 38.
- ^ "Total Fashion Victim (8th September - 8th October 23)". Rogue Gallery. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
- ^ Wilkinson, Chiara (7 October 2024). "Exhibition Review: Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London". Time Out London. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
- ^ "Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London". Fashion and Textile Museum. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
- ^ Cochrane, Lauren (20 September 2025). "Strange days: how the Blitz club changed the 1980s – and fashion". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 December 2025.