Sue Clowes (born 31 October 1957) is an English textile and

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

er known for the collection that launched

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

and

Culture Club Culture Club are an English new wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (musician), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), and Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and formerly included Jon Moss ( ...

in 1981.

Career

Textiles and fashion

Throughout Clowes's career, music and musicians have influenced her work:

approached her to design a collection for the group to sell in the shop The Foundry in Ganton Street where George O'Dowd (later widely known as

) worked as a window dresser. Clowes created a cultural cocktail of offbeat imagery with religious undertones. The Flesh and Steel collection of winter 1983 of printed silver crosses was worn by Jonny Slut of

Specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

Susanne Bartsch Susanne Bartsch is a Swiss event producer, living in the United States, whose monthly parties at the Copacabana in late-1980s New York City united the ''haute'' and ''demi-monde'', making her an icon of New York nightlife. "Ms. Bartsch's name," ...

, an event producer provided early exposure for

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

designers with a series of shows in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and then

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Clowes took part alongside other 1980s designers, including

Leigh Bowery Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery's performances featured striking costumes and make-up and were conceptual, flamboyant, outlandish, and sometime ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

wore a Sue Clowes vintage t-shirt for the Anti Tour.

Research and development

Clowes moved to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1987, and became involved in

wearable technology Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smartglasses. Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the s ...

or "smart clothing". Clowes worked in an academic team called Grado Zero Espace, with Italian engineers and scientists, to pioneer clothing that incorporated technology. These garments won awards from ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' and ''

Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

''. She also worked on the project of

shape-memory alloy In metallurgy, a shape-memory alloy (SMA) is an alloy that can be deformed when cold but returns to its pre-deformed ("remembered") shape when heated. It is also known in other names such as memory metal, memory alloy, smart metal, smart alloy, ...

named

Nitinol Nickel titanium, also known as nitinol, is a metal alloy of nickel and titanium, where the two elements are present in roughly equal atomic percentages. Different alloys are named according to the weight percentage of nickel; e.g., nitinol 55 and ...

to obtain the first

woven fabric Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics, often created on a loom, are made of many threads woven in a warp and weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one ano ...

. Clowes worked on the team that researched and developed a jacket padded with

Aerogel Aerogels are a class of manufacturing, synthetic porous ultralight material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component for the gel has been replaced with a gas, without significant collapse of the gel structure. The result is a solid wit ...

. The jacket called Absolute Zero was taken on an

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

expedition. For Corpo Nove, Clowes researched

Stinging Nettle ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Or ...

fibres which were woven to produce

jeans Jeans are a type of trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with the addition of copper pocket rivets added by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and patented by ...

. She gave a conference at the

Eden Project The Eden Project () is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay clay pit, pit.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 107 – Fowey, Looe & Lostwithiel''. . The complex is dominated by two h ...

Journalism

Clowes wrote articles for an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

magazine called ''N9VE.''

Recent work

Clowes re-launched the Sue Clowes brand in 2012 with her daughter Marta Melani and collaborated on an edition of five pairs of

sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

for Italian cult shoe company Fornarina Srl. The sneakers along with their winter Night Sky Junkie collection was modelled by dancers on skates during Milan Menswear Fashion Week, 2014 at the

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Alphabet nightclub. In July 2013 the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

showcased looks from young designers of London Fashion in the 80s in an exhibition called Club to Catwalk. The museum requisitioned two of Clowes’outfits which are permanently held in their archives. The exhibition ran from July 2013 until February 2014. In 2019 Clowes collaborated with London-based John Moore Reimagined and four of her designs were printed onto shirts. Reported in the Financial Times in February 2019. April 2023 Clowes collaborated with Supreme New York American clothing and

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

lifestyle brand to create a collection featuring Sue Clowes's original artwork from the early 1980s. The SS23 collection consists of a Jacket, Shirt, Ringer Tee, Chino Pant and cap. 12 December 2023. Kerry Taylor, an auction house, sold ensembles from Sue Clowes's personal 1980s collections in the "Passion for Fashion" auction. January 2024. Clowes designed and screen printed a collection of images for Italian fashion company Simon Cracker. The garments were shown at a fashion show at ARCA, Milan on 14 January 2024. Simon Cracker (stylists Simone Botte and Filippo Biraghi) called their collection ‘La Nanna’ to capture the moment before sleep. Clowes printed surreal collages on upcycled denim jackets and jeans that harmonized with the sleep theme. The show was reported in

Corriere Della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

. October 2024. The Fashion and Textile Museum, London,

�opened the exhibition OUTLAWS. The exhibition centers around the nightclub Taboo, opened by performance artist

in 1985. The exhibition displays garments from over thirty designers, including

John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. From 2014 to 2024, Galliano was the creative director ...

John Flett, Stephen Linard and Dean Bright. Two of Sue Clowes's outfits from the Culture Club 80s era are on show. The exhibition is curated by Martin Green, Duovision Arts,

�and NJ Stevenson. Artistic Director David Cabaret. Creative Consultant James Lawler, Duovision Arts. Exhibition dates: 4 October 2024 – 9 March 2025.

November 2024. The Winchester Gallery

part of Winchester School of Art and Southampton University, opened the exhibition Collecting Sue Clowes. Associate Professor Dr Shaun Cole curated the exhibition and it includes many pieces from Clowes worn by 80s pop icons such as

Jonny Slut Jennie BelleStar

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer. She first gained success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at no. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo ...

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British New wave music, new wave duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band t ...

Southampton-based collector, Mikey Bean loaned his archive of Sue Clowes clothing and related ephemera for this show Exhibition dates: 15 November – 18 January.

External links

Archive online gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clowes, Sue English fashion designers English women fashion designers 1957 births Living people Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts