Haute couture beefcake art jacket. The artist utilized textiles, period queer-themed art prints, beads, and buttons on a denim jacket base. Sleeve length approx.: 26". Approx. size: (M).

Bowers stitching queer aesthetics into wearable fashion is evocative of the creations of Emilie Flöge (1874-1952) and her reimagining of Klimt and the Vienna Secessionist aesthetics into wearable artworks.

Bowers has been designing jackets and making art since 1969. He began his career in San Francisco while living and performing with the famous drag theater troupe, the Cockettes.

While designing costuming for the Cockettes, Bowers further made a name for himself in the fashion and music industry, creating unique jackets for rock-and-roll icons like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Aerosmith. His designs were an immediate hit, earning him press in Rolling Stone magazine, as well as a 1973 feature in Vogue Italy, shot in Andy Warhol’s Factory. Eventually, Bowers would extend his work from fashion design to other fiber arts such as wall hangings and collages.

Bowers designed jackets exhibited inBill Bowers’ Closet: Folk, Funk, Flash. August 22 - September 30, 2024. San Francisco LGBT Community Center.

Provenance: Sold for the benefit of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. Some seams, buttons, threads, alterations may be a bit loose.

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