I was just 13 years old and didn’t have a clue about fashion. Basically, I wore pretty much what my mum bought for me, and then HE came onto the scene and changed everything.
Suddenly Adam Ant was everywhere, including my bedroom. My walls were covered in his pictures, carefully cut from a vast array of magazines paid for by my meagre wages as a newspaper girl. I trudged for hours every week, my shoulders weighed down by the weight of the bag, carrying hundreds of copies of the local rag, through all weather conditions, but it was worth it.
Adam Ant changed my life.
I loved his music, still do, but most of all I loved his style. With each single he released, came a new look, the Dandy Highwayman, Pirate, Prince Charming… and he carried each one off so well. His style was flambuoyant, colourful, bold and ultimately very sexy. He stood out from the crowd and rapidly became a fashion icon of the 80’s.
It wasn’t long after Adam’s arrival in my life at that tender age that I began to get more interested in fashion. I started to experiment, became more confident, and realised that I didn’t have to follow fashion. I wanted to be different.
I started dying my hair – orange, pink, purple, red… and looking out for unusual items to wear, started customising my clothes….
When I was given a sewing machine at 16 – a very basic one – I began playing with fabrics, taught myself how to make clothes and although, by that time, Adam Ant was long gone from the music scene and my allegiances had moved to the likes of Motley Crue, Guns n Roses and other ‘hair bands of the late 80’s, his influence was still present.
Yes, I confess to making some real fashion disasters – including the baggy multi-coloured trousers that were among the first things I ever made and which caused great hilarity amongst some people – but I had made them and I was bloody well going to wear them! For me, it was all part of the learning process and it’s something I continue today with my designs.
Now qualified in pattern cutting, fashion design and tailoring, most of my work still comes from simply picking up a piece of fabric and experimenting. I rarely set out with a concrete idea of what I’m going to make, it just evolves and that’s why you’ll find quite an eclectic range of items under my brand Mosquito Head UK on the Fashion Killerz website.
So, Adam Ant, thank you for inspiring me to blossom from a shy teenager to become the individual, creative person I am today.
I’d be interested to hear who YOUR style icons were. Who changed your world? If any designers are reading this – who or what inspired YOU to follow a career in fashion?
Adam Ant inspired a love of big collars and cuffs as in my jacket above.
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