The world of fashion is mourning the loss of Antony Price, the British designer whose technical brilliance and flamboyant vision helped define the look of an era. Price, who died on December 17, 2025, at the age of 80, leaves behind a legacy that extends far beyond the catwalks of London, shaping the visual language of music, celebrity, and glamour for more than five decades.
Born in Keighley, Yorkshire in 1945, Price’s early passion for art and design led him to the Bradford School of Art at just 16, and later to the prestigious Royal College of Art in London. By the time he graduated in 1968, his talent was already turning heads. According to BBC, a year out of college, Price was recruited by Stirling Cooper, where he began designing menswear that would soon make its way onto the world stage. It was Price’s buttoned trousers that Mick Jagger famously wore during The Rolling Stones’ "Gimme Shelter" tour in 1969—a sign of things to come.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Price’s aesthetic—bold, technically dazzling, and unapologetically glamorous—became the signature look for some of the era’s biggest music icons. As FashionNetwork.com reported, he was responsible for the overtly sexy, body-conscious styles that became synonymous with bands like Roxy Music and Duran Duran. He didn’t just design clothes; he crafted personas, helping to shape the public images of Bryan Ferry, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Amanda Lear, Jerry Hall, and Paula Yates, among others.
Price’s technical mastery was legendary. His anatomical cuts and sculpted silhouettes, inspired by old Hollywood stars and Vegas showgirls, were as much feats of engineering as artistry. Bryan Ferry, frontman of Roxy Music, once called him “a master craftsman,” a sentiment echoed by many in the industry. “He was one of a kind, and his tailoring was second to none. You immediately knew when something was designed by him,” said Daphne Guinness, a close friend and longtime client, in an interview with WWD.
Despite his profound influence, Price was often “criminally overlooked,” as 10 Magazine put it. He held only a handful of fashion shows in his career, preferring the intimacy of made-to-order commissions and collaborations. Yet, his work was everywhere—on album covers, in music videos, and on the world’s most photographed women. Jerry Hall wore a Price creation when she ‘married’ Mick Jagger in 1990; Queen Camilla and Kylie Minogue were among his later clients.
Price launched his own label in 1979, opening shops on South Molton Street and King’s Road, and ran the Ebony boutique in the 1980s. His 1983 Fashion Extravaganza at The Camden Palace, which was televised, was a landmark event that merged fashion and rock music in a way that felt entirely new. He continued to host similar events, dressing celebrities in show-stopping looks—none more memorable than Jerry Hall’s bolero and lampshade-peplum dress for the Fashion Aid event in 1985.
Those who worked with Price remember him as both exacting and exuberant. “His brilliance and technical ability were unmatched, and it breaks my heart that the world of fashion didn’t recognize his genius in his lifetime as he deserved,” said milliner Philip Treacy, who collaborated with Price on feathered creations for the runway. Christopher Kane, reflecting on Price’s designs for Roxy Music and Duran Duran, noted, “He helped define an era and shaped the visual language of a generation. Beyond his extraordinary talent, Antony was mischievous and witty, with a wicked sense of humor.”
Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, in a heartfelt tribute on Instagram, called Price “a visionary fashion designer, with extraordinary technical skills. Nobody did glam better than Antony. Inspired by old-school Hollywood, he brought that style into a new era with a sharp sense of modernity and without ever forsaking elegance. His designs were made to shine—whoever wore his clothes inevitably got the most attention in the room.” Rhodes added, “Perhaps most significantly, he conceived and designed all of the pastel-colored silk suits we wore in the ‘Rio’ video. Whilst he rarely received the recognition he deserved from the fashion media, his notable clientele and many other designers all knew Antony was a genius, a cut above the rest.”
In the 21st century, Price continued to influence fashion through collaborations and bespoke projects, dressing Queen Camilla in 2008 and working with milliners like Treacy. He was also known for his generosity of spirit and encouragement of young talent, long before mentorship became a formalized part of the industry. The British Fashion Council described him as “a true original. A British fashion designer with instinct flair and a deep love of clothes who helped define a moment when London style was fearless and full of attitude. His work blurred glamour and rebellion and he dressed a generation of artists, performers and creatives who used fashion as a tool of self-expression.”
Price’s final act was as dramatic as any in his storied career. In November 2025, less than a month before his death, he returned to the London catwalk in collaboration with Marco Capaldo of 16Arlington. The show, a year in the making, was a celebration of glamour and sexuality, with an all-star cast including Lily Allen, Lara Stone, Adwoa Aboah, and Kit Butler. As 10 Magazine described, each look was a masterclass in construction: corseted super-structures, sculpted leather jackets, and crystal-encrusted gowns, all paired with exclusive Manolo Blahnik heels. Lily Allen, making her runway debut, embodied the spirit of the collection in a midnight-blue velvet gown that channeled both Jessica Rabbit and Gilda.
Capaldo, reflecting on their collaboration, said, “Antony was not only an extraordinary designer, but a dear friend whose generosity of spirit, wisdom and warmth meant so much to me. Working together on our collaboration over the last year was a true honor and privilege.” The British Fashion Council noted that this final collection “reminded us all of his style, substance and contribution.”
Price’s influence will continue to ripple through the worlds of fashion and music. His designs, at once theatrical and wearable, technical and sensual, set a standard that few have matched. He demanded that his clothes be inhabited, not just worn—a fitting legacy for a man who believed that fashion should always rise to the occasion.
As the industry reflects on his extraordinary life, one thing is certain: Antony Price’s genius, once overlooked, is now impossible to ignore.
