Bryan Ferry is a major artist, who, over 50 years of career, has composed an offbeat style that has left an undeniable mark on his generation. In 1972, Roxy Music releases the single Virginia Plain on Top of the Pops. The success is immediate. The members of the group, influenced by their time at the Winchester School of Art, adventurously mix musical and clothing styles without fear of bad taste, or being kitsch: leopard skin jackets, leather shirts, white double-breasted jackets with large lapels — their innovative style knows no limits.
Eight Albums later, Ferry leaves the group after major success in the USA. The following year marks the debut of his solo career and a radical change of roles. Fascinated in his teenage years by Gary Cooper and Cary Grant, as well as the films of Jean Renoir, the singer finds his uniform in the codified universe of black tie.
Exchanging his white double-breasted jacketjacket whose two sides overlap when closed - the right side for a black one, Ferry no longer mixes, but creates.
English suits and Italian shoes follow a period of Japanese deconstruction. His persona of the crooner brings him into the fold of reserved tailoring, which he marks by a touch of transgression: beige unstructured suits, tweedwoolen fabric, more or less rustic, woven with multicolored jackets with oversized lapels, and unruly ties.
A contemporary master of understatement, Bryan Ferry has developed a style of elegant, affirmed discretion.
FERRY, Bryan. Holland Park, London, United-Kingdom. 1976.
DICKSON, Ian, phot. FERRY Bryan. London, United-Kingdom. 1976.
RAHO, Allessendro, art. Bryan Ferry. oil on canvasthe tailor's cloth, placed between the lining and the outer, 126 x 88 cm. 2014.
FERRY, Bryan. London. 1975.
- THE DOUBLE-BREASTED SUIT« He had on a double-breasted suit of the type then known as the pillbox; it was chalk-striped, pink on blue »
- LAPELS« Trends in lapel size often mirror the economic climate: during World War II, lapels initially became smaller due to fabric shortages »
- COOPER X 12« Dressed up like a million-dollar trouper/Tryin’ hard to look like Gary Cooper/Super Duper – Puttin’ on the Ritz »
- OUTER POCKETS« It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that sewn-on pockets, and pockets hidden within the liningfabric that is used inside a garment, became standard in clothing… »