Antony Price

In the heady days of the 1970s and 1980s, the name Antony Price was synonymous with glamour and rock ‘n roll.

British born and bred, Price made his way from Yorkshire to the Royal College of Art in the mid-sixties before settling down in Ladbroke Grove. He took up a job designing for manufacturer and wholesaler Stirling Cooper, where he set about honing his fashion skills – and his address book. Before long he was styling the Rolling Stones, Roxy Music (in the days before he was modelling cardigans for M&S, Price had Bryan Ferry sporting glam shiny suits), and was responsible for the controversial back cover photo of Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer’ album, featuring a model with a cucumber down his trousers.

His roll call of clients includes some of the worlds’ most glamorous women; since he started his own label in 1979 he has dressed Angelica Huston, Diana Ross, Yasmin le Bon, Janet Street Porter, Princess Diana and Melanie Griffith to name but a few, and created the white lace mini dress that Jerry Hall wore when she married Mick Jagger. The secret to his success? Antony Price is a master tailor, incredibly adept at sculpting and moulding the body to perfection. Not for him size zero waifs, his dresses are created for women who have curves – and aren’t afraid to show them off in figure hugging, eye-catching dresses. The likes of Alexander McQueen and Roland Mouret have plenty to thank him for.

These days Price may be out of the spotlight but he isn’t exactly resting on his laurels. He assists Daphne Guinness on her eponymous line of exquisitely tailored shirts for Dover Street Market; he has designed a range of menswear, entitled ‘Priceless’ for Topman; and he still dresses an incredible range of celebrity clients – he was responsible for masterminding the style transformation of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, while Dita von Teese is a huge fan of his curve-enhancing designs.

Rumour has it that a women’s collection for Topshop may be in the works, but if you’d like a slice of his style in the meantime and your bank balance won’t quite stretch to one of his made-to-measure gowns then start your hunt on Ebay for the originals.

By Emma Sells