Antony Price, one of Britain’s most important designers, has died

​Antony Price, who was among the most influential British designers since the 1960s had died aged 80. His death comes just weeks after he returned to the London runways in a collab with 16Arlington.

Price was known for his overtly sexy women’s and menswear as well as his work with musicians such as Roxy Music, Lou Reed, Duran Duran and more. 

Although he was unfairly overlooked in recent decades, his styling and clothing designs for albums such as Reed’s Transformer and eight Roxy Music albums, as well as the looks created for big names such as Jerry Hall and Amanda Lear meant his influence reached those who didn’t necessarily know his name. Other celebs to wear his designs included David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Paula Yates and, more recently Queen Camilla and Kylie Minogue and he helped create Bryan ferry’s image as the coolest musician of the 1970s.

Best known for eveningwear — both women’s and men’s — his designs foretold the hyper-sexy styles created in the 1980s by Thierry Mugler, Azzedine Alaia, Jean Paul Gaultier and more. But it wasn’t just about the look as his technical skill was hugely impressive and his anatomy-enhancing cuts at times defied belief.

Price was born in Yorkshire in 1945 and entered Bradford School of Art at the age of 16. He also studied at London’s Royal College of Art.

Straight out of college in 1968 he started working for another unfairly forgotten label, Stirling Cooper, and was tipped as a star in the making by the fashion editor of The Times.

He didn’t start his own label until 1979 but his designs had already made an impact on pop culture via those creations for musicians. His look was influenced by the golden age of Hollywood but with an irreverent modern edge.

He continued working with musicians of the early 1980s new wave, and he also made a major impact with his 1983 Fashion Extravaganza show at The Camden Palace in London, an event that was televised.

Seeing himself as more of a theatrical designer than a fashion designer, it’s undeniable that his mastery of cutting and silhouette helped reshape men’s suiting in the 1980s.

As mentioned, his designs were back on the catwalk last month as the made-to-order collab collection with 16Arlington was unveiled and showed he’s lost none of his feel for in-your-face glamour and sexiness.