BOWERY Leigh (Icon)

Leigh Bowery approached dressing as a creative, artistic act, although whether his "Redbeard with Aerosol Tops" from winter 1987 is "art" or not is a matter of opinion. Part voodoo, part clown, Bowery's surreal and often disturbing costumes were always highly creative. "I am in this odd area between fashion and art", he said. He described his work as "both serious and very funny". Bowery arrived in London in 1980 during the New Romantic era. He dressed up for the first time at an Alternative Miss World contest, and was delighted to find himself the centre of attention. Later he hosted the gay nightclub Taboo, continually reinventing himself and always trying to "improve"on his previous outfit. An expert tailor, Bowery collaborated with Rifat Ozbek, although posterity will remember him as a sitter for the painter Lucian Freud. 

Also look up for Van Beirendonck, Boy George, G. Jones, N. Knight, Ozbek