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Sketchbooks: Antony Price

published on 15 March 2011

Back to the drawing-board: a never-before-seen selection of Antony Price's sketches, samples and original artwork chosen by the designer himself.

Back to the drawing-board: a never-before-seen selection of Antony Price's sketches, samples and original artwork chosen by the designer himself.

One example of Price's potent eveningwear, which remains his enduring trademark. Christened 'result wear' by British journalist and broadcaster Janet Street-Porter, this example utilised semi-transparent silk-jersey for its erotic impact
Alternative design for Amanda Lear's Price-devised outfit and pose as featured on the cover of Roxy Music's second album For Your Pleasure
Original artwork for one of the trademark 'Zonda' silkscreened t-shirts, sold at Antony Price's seminal boutique Plaza during the late-1970s. At the bottom right are Price's sketches for the tessellation of the prints during manufacture
The Roxy Music song Trash declared 'Go to Plaza, where's the trade?' - and Price's iconic boutique at 34 King's Road (named, like Roxy, after a nostalgic for Art Deco movie-houses) became a cult destination for seventies style fanatics
Price's topstitched and laced leather 'Disciplinary' dress from 1983's Fashion Extravaganza, a series of 12 themed vignettes fusing music and fashion staged at the Camden Palace. This outfit was part of a sequence inspired by Marvel Comics
Sketch for the 'Helidress' from 1983's Fashion Extravaganza. This outfit was included in the Vietnam tableau, set to the soundtrack of Apocalypse Now
Rayon jersey silkscreen of an original Pulp Sci-Fi cartoon print drawn by Antony Price and used on Plaza T-shirts, mid-1970s
Price's sketch for the original sleeve of Roxy Music's 1982 album 'Avalon'
Price's original sketches show a number of variations on the costume worn by Jerry Hall on the sleeve of Roxy Music's 'Siren' album
Coloured pencil sketches for Jerry Hall's costume as featured on the cover of Roxy Music's 1975 album 'Siren'
Test card for the spray-paint used on Jerry Hall's costume for the iconic cover of Roxy Music's 'Siren' LP. On the back, in pencil, is the name of the car spray-paint used, 'Vauxhall Sapphire Starmist'
Antony Price's alternative vision for the cover of 'Siren': Jerry Hall as a mutated mermaid in front of Sizewell B Nuclear reactor
Coloured pencil sketches for Jerry Hall's costume as featured on the cover of Roxy Music's 1975 album 'Siren'
A pencil sketch of a typical 'Price' woman - part femme fatale, part Vargas pin-up - on headed paper from his first employers, the mass-manufacturers Stirling Cooper
Fabric swatch and original Pantone chips for a forties-style floral print design used on Plaza t-shirts, mid-1970s
A typical Antony Price design from the 1980s, with fabric cinched and swathed around the figure. On the reverse are pencil sketches marked with the measurements of top model and Price favourite Susie Bick
A notorious perfectionist, the only music video Antony Price was truly happy with was that created for Bryan Ferry's 'Let's Stick Together'. Price devised the stage design and designed every piece of clothing, including Jerry Hall's notorious tiger dress
An alternative version of Jerry Hall's asymmetric dress for 1976's Let's Stick Together, although the tiger-print is already in place
Price's fascination with ornithology is betrayed in the form of this Kingfisher-blue taffeta evening dress from the late-1980s. Later, collaborator and friend Philip Treacy would use feathers from Price's prize Yokohama fowls in his millinery
Evening dress formed from blue and green 'feathers' of silk-taffeta, late-1980s
Design for a pleated blue lamé dress worn by Marie Helvin in Price's Autumn/Winter 1980 show. Similar dresses were worn by Roxy Music's backing singers, who had to be carried on to the stage due to the restrictive lines of the dresses
Antony Price's aesthetic has always owed a debt to the kitsch fetish of Pop artist Allen Jones. Here, bullet-breasts and the receptive mouth of a sex doll furnish this decidedly tongue-in-cheek sketch, which nonetheless bears all Price's classic hallmarks
Antony Price's original sketches for the evening dress worn by Sophie Ward in the promotional video for the Roxy Music single 'Avalon', 1982
Antony Price's original sketches for the evening dress worn by Sophie Ward in the promotional video for the Roxy Music single 'Avalon', 1982. This version - off the shoulder, with corsage - was the one used in the final video
Original card depicting the famous 'Arse Pants' from Plaza and their retail price. These signs, and samples of the garments on sale, were nailed to wooden boards while the goods themselves were ordered through a serving hatch
Plaza card showing a fitted men's 'G.I.' style shirt, mid-1970s
Plaza card showing a tailored women's jacket, mid-1970s
Price's preparatory sketch for a photographic image eventually used in his promotional material for S/S 88. Price not only sketched the layout and designed the clothing, he also styled the model and took the photographs himself
Sketch of the baroque gilt arabesqued 'Couture' Antony Price boutique on London's South Molton Street, mid-1980s
Coloured pencil sketch for a range of swimwear designed with model Jerry Hall, dated 9 September 1981
Coloured pencil sketch for a range of swimwear designed with model Jerry Hall
Price declared in The Face in 1983 'I’m not a fashion designer… I’m really in the theatrical business'. Although this outfit is a television costume, it could easily have been taken from one of his catwalk shows. A swatch of leather is still attached
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
A series of Price's storyboard-style illustrations for Roxy Music's 1979 'Angel Eyes' video
Original paste-up artwork for Antony Price's first own-name label and logo, 1979
Original paste-up artwork for Antony Price's first own-name label and logo, 1979
Pencil sketch for a braided military jacket created by Price for Philip Treacy's A/W 96 presentation
Price's talent for exaggeration could often reach dizzying heights: here, he pushes the eighties Linebacker silhouette to its logical extreme dated 8 September 1981
Foreshadowing the exaggerated shoulders of the eighties and echoing his taste for fifties nostalgia, this collegiate sweater is a fusion of past and future. Price's space-age logo, devised in 1979, is featured on the breast
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Explore

Article

Interview: When Jerry Met Antony

11 February 2009
Designer Antony Price in conversation with model Jerry Hall, Wonderland April/May 2008.
Video

Episode 3: Unravelled

14 January 2011
Live from the drawing-board, London designer Louise Goldin shares a sneak peek at her A/W 09 sketches in this behind the scenes look at her design process.
Runway Show

Runway Show: Antony Price A/W 84

09 June 2011
Watch archive footage from Antony Price's second Fashion Extravaganza - a fusion of fashion and music - at the Hippodrome.
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