THE STEPHEN SPROUSE BOOK

Inventive, enigmatic, and supremely creative, Stephen Sprouse made art and clothing that captured the mood of the eighties. One of the first American designers to mix graffiti and a punk aesthetic with fashion, Sprouse manipulated conventional notions of style, and his unique sensibility has inspired designers from John Galliano to Raf Simmons to Marc Jacobs. Sprouse’s career started in the late seventies, when, after working for Halston, he migrated to a warehouse on the Bowery and started making outfits for his neighbor, Debbie Harry. The fashion world quickly embraced his innovative, culturally relevant sensibility and downtown edge. But Sprouse’s inability to compromise his artistic vision for the rigid fashion business compromised his commercial success. The Padilhas possess the largest private collection of Sprouse’s work, and were given exclusive access to his archives by his family for this project. They also obtained never-before-published images from photographers such as Steven Meisel, Bob Gruen, and Mert and Marcus. The book features a foreword by the novelist Tama Janowitz, one of Sprouse’s closest friends. The release of this book coincides with a retrospective at Deitch Projects. The book will be available with four different jackets, each featuring a different Day-Glo color, an homage to Sprouse’s iconic album cover for Debbie Harry’s Rockbird.

Review
“…gets the star treatment in Rizzoli’s upcoming The Stephen Sprouse Book, providing unfettered access to his work and wild life.” ~ELLE

“As the book’s extensive interviews with friends Anna Sui, Iggy Pop and Kate Moss attest, Sprouse was both very much of his time and way ahead of it.” ~Black Book

“The volume is as colorful and dynamic as Sprouse’s life…” ~Soma Magazine

“The Stephen Sprouse Book… gorgeously packages photos, sketches and personal anecdotes from the late icon’s inner circle.” ~ModernTonic.com