Little did menswear designer Katie Eary know that when showing her David Bowie collection on Monday during Men’s Fashion Week: London, she would actually be paying tribute to a recently deceased fashion icon. Her Fall/Winter 2016 collection was inspired by the documentary The Sacred Triangle, a film that explored the creative symbiosis between Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. She translated this into the collection through a series of androgynous looks that played on the glam rock persona Ziggy Stardust—a name that, coincidentally, Bowie chose because it was similar to the name Iggy.
Eary is well known for her funky patterns, and they came down the runway in the muted form of geometric snakes or brightly colored moths atop metallic silk pants and knitwear staples. A series of metallic, lace-up jeans added to the rock ‘n’ roll vibe of the collection and the addition of fur and velvet accents gave the line a luxe vibe that not many could pull off. For the less adventurous dresser, there were a few closet staples that included shearling and suede jackets, black trousers and some printed, but minimal knitwear.
With the exception of a few pieces, the collection wasn’t too flamboyant and managed to stay well-balanced despite such influential muses. Without resorting to copying the same vintage looks or careening into costume territory, she captures their style well and reimagines it for a modern man. Gender fluidity ran throughout the collection with women and men walking one after another in a show that celebrated androgyny without being a slave to it. In fact a few women came out wearing sheer dresses and marabou slippers, something that most guys, rock stars included, are likely not willing to wear.
