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Rock and pop costume
Ant, Adam, born 1954 - Enlarge image
Rock and pop costume
- Place of origin:
Great Britain (made)
- Date:
1981 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Ant, Adam, born 1954 (designer)
Whiteing, Charles David (costumier)
Swinden, Yvonne (designer) - Credit Line:
Given by Stuart Leslie Goddard (Adam Ant)
- Museum number:
S.140&A to O-1983
- Gallery location:
Theatre & Performance, Room 106, case 6, shelf B []
After starting his career in a punk rock band in the late 1970s, and acting in Derek Jarman's punk film Jubilee, Ant's musical and artistic direction changed after hiring Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren's assistance in redefining their image resulted in the piratical theme that became a hallmark of Adam and the Ants, despite McLaren subsequently persuading the rest of the Ants to leave and form a separate band, Bow Wow Wow. After regrouping with a new backing band, Adam and the Ants became one of the most successful British acts of the early 1980s; their image and style of music was at the forefront of the burgeoning New Romantic movement.
Ant advised in the design of all his own costumes, indebted to historical, military and tribal dress, working with stylists and costumiers. This one is perhaps the most widely known of all, having been used for the publicity photographs and promotional video for the single, Prince Charming, and later on tour. There are two shirts, two pairs of breeches, two wigs and two scarves, not identical but in similar styles, all worn in different combinations on tour. The gold and black striped shirt and the dark silver leather breeches were worn for the publicity photographs and in the video.
