Having amassed influence from the likes of Warhol, Halston and Bill Blass through a midst of internships and alliances, Sprouse was a designer who thoroughly embraced fashion as art and worked to imperatively combine the two.
Known for his business misadventures as much as for his graffiti prints, Day-Glo fabrics and outré runway shows (models chewing on vials filled with fake blood, anyone?)
Throughout his career, Sprouse merged between overwhelming success and disappointing career lows as time and again his businesses failed.
Sprouse was the genius behind the Louis Vuitton graffiti bags, a result of an invite to Paris by Marc Jacobs to assist with the collection. Needless to say, the bags were a monumental hit with the designer admitting that even he could not get his hands on one.
Debbie Harry, the veritable Edie Sedgwick to Sprouse's Warhol, lived for a number of years with the designer, with him styling her for Blondie's 'Heart of Glass' video. The chanteuse fully embodied the Bowery girl look and with Sprouse's engagement, quickly became a style icon for a generation who's looked is echoed in that of Ms. Moss today.
Stephen Sprouse was a designer, an artist and an innovator. Despite his roller coaster of a career, his work is of the utmost importance in fashion history. He broke the bounds of fashion and challenged it, assuring his name will forever be in association with the legends of times past.
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| 1984 Stephen Sprouse Pink Wool Coat |
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