David Bowie’s Issey Miyake suit he wore at iconic Blitz club up for auction
The suit is expected to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000
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Your support makes all the difference.A suit owned by David Bowie is up for auction today (Thursday 25 March).
The two-piece suit designed by Issey Miyake is being sold at Auction Antiques in Devon. The item is expected to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000.
On the Auction house’s website, the suit is described as “one of the more star-studded items on offer in a sale of Fine Art, Antiques and Collectables” which go on sale today.
According to the auctioneers, Bowie left the suit behind at the Blitz club in London after he burnt a hole in it with a cigarette in 1982.
Steve Strange, who owned the Blitz club and was the lead singer of 1980s pop group Visage, held onto the suit until his death in 2015.
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Strange’s estate, including the suit, was inherited by his friend Jayce Lewis, who is also a musician.
Explaining the backstory of the suit to Auction Antiques, Lewis said Bowie left it in Strange’s office in the club. He explained that Bowie sat down with “such a slump, that the insides of his cigarette fell out on to his suit and burnt the pocket along with a few other areas.”
The singer then asked his assistant to “fetch him his bag/suitcase from the car in order for him to change.”
Lewis added: “Bowie changed into a jacket and trousers, discarding the suit on the floor near the sofa, where it was forgotten about. Later that night Steve spotted the suit and took it home to work out what to do with it, where it remained until his estate was sold, along with all of his other possessions”.
The auction house said the suit “bears the scars of that eventful night” and that the item is “the exact size for Bowie at the time”, a 28-inch waist.
Stephen Ferguson, from Auction Antiques, said: “Unusual items with a famous history are always the best and as a lifelong Bowie fan, this piece ticks all the boxes, as it will with other Bowie fans.”
According to the Auction Antiques listing, the item went on sale on Thursday at 10am. A spokesperson from the auction house told The Independent that while the auction started at 10am, the suit would be up for sale later today.
The spokesperson said: “The auction is today, so we’re all awaiting the result with bated breath!”
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