The secret to Debbie Harry's style
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, November 25, 2024


The secret to Debbie Harry's style
Debbie Harry in New York, Aug. 27, 2019. (Celeste Sloman/The New York Times)

by Ruth La Ferla



NEW YORK, NY.- A designer lives inside Debbie Harry. She’ll tell you so herself.

As the lead singer of the pop-punk band Blondie, iterations of which have been performing for six decades, Harry has assembled her own stage wardrobe, a rough-hewn bricolage of shredded prom dresses, spandex bodysuits, fishnet arm warmers and skin-baring vintage castoffs.

“I’ve always fiddled around and tried to make statements out of combining things that normally would not be looked at,” she said. “That was the fun — to make it as rock 'n' roll and as daring as you could. It was part of the expression of breaking out.”

Since forming Blondie in the 1970s with guitarist Chris Stein, her onetime boyfriend, Harry has rarely drifted out of public consciousness. In recent years, she has released a memoir and, with her band, albums featuring new music as well as classic songs like “Heart of Glass,” the disco track that helped make Blondie a household name. It has been covered by younger performers like Miley Cyrus, who, in a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, credited Harry with blazing a path for new generations of artists.

To some, Harry’s image as the Blondie frontwoman has been as influential as the band’s music. Her rocker style was the basis for a new collaboration with Wildfang, a brand in Portland, Oregon, which this month released a small collection inspired by pieces that the 79-year-old singer pulled from her closet.

The collection includes a suit jacket and trousers, two shirts and a sweatshirt. Those items, priced from about $45 to $200, make liberal reference to Harry’s familiar wardrobe staples — and to her raw, tear-down-the-barricades sensibility.

“We just started very low on the ladder with ripped-up stuff, safety pins and all that,” Harry said of the clothing she wore in Blondie’s early days. “When the music got characterized as pop, we pivoted a little bit and started doing the Warhol thing in bright colors.”

Wildfang, a 12-year-old brand founded by former Nike employees, made its name by flouting gender norms and promoting inclusivity and unfettered self-expression, an ethos in line with Harry’s own. The singer, who has incorporated the brand’s pieces into her wardrobe, represents the emotional essence of Wildfang, said Taralyn Thuot, its chief product and creative officer.

“She is confident and humble at the same time,” Thuot said.

Harry’s mini collection features plenty of her signature punk touches. “Debbie was very prescriptive; she suggested the placement of grommets and chains,” Thuot said. “We even added thumb holes for the sleeves, something she loves. She knows how to style things.”

Indeed, Harry had some ideas for how to wear the line’s double-breasted jacket, which is embellished with a silver chain. “You could move the chain around in different ways or style the jacket with a corset underneath,” she said. “That could be very hot.”

Also steamy is the portrait of Harry that is emblazoned on a T-shirt in the collection. Rather than having Wildfang reproduce a siren-y platinum-haired image from her Blondie heyday, Harry asked to use a current photo. Her hair is platinum, but her face is faintly lined.

“I don’t know if I’m making a statement,” she said. “I’m just keeping on.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

August 10, 2024

Austin's artful Blanton Museum says: Come on in

Artists find beauty and darkness in child's play

SJ Auctioneers announces online-only Designer Jewelry Estate Collection auction

Ship brings rocky clues to life's origins up from ocean's 'Lost City'

Oysters and martinis at Rashid Johnson's pool party in The Hamptons

First major exhibition of Southern photography in more than 25 years comes to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Mary Wings, pioneering creator of queer comics, dies at 75

Tourists accused of defacing Joshua Tree National Park with paintballs

Rare Pogonodon skeleton stalks bids in Heritage's Nature & Science auction

The secret to Debbie Harry's style

New series of six architecture exhibitions at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

Gloriously noisy Latinas are coming to Lincoln Center

A Gentil Carioca opens its first exhibition of works by Vinicius Gerheim

Opening 14 September at Michael Werner Gallery, Beverly Hills - Florian Krewer: strike the dust

Facing turmoil at home, young artists find a musical haven in New York

Hotly anticipated 'Dallas-Fort Worth Collection' makes its auction debut

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah wins Kluge Humanities Prize

At 50, 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' still cuts deep

How the Olympics mascot went from bizarre to beloved

LaJuné McMillian explores Black freedom and movement through new digital media and performance

Cashing in on her cultural influence

How Post Malone went country (carefully, with a beer in his hand)

How 'Head Hunters' shook up jazz (and Herbie Hancock's world)

Anna Marie Tendler knows you think her book is about John Mulaney

Luxury Replica Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller - Undersea Citizen

AI: The Future of Electric Bikes For Adults




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful