KEANAN DUFFTY TO HOST GUEST LECTURE WITH BRITISH GQ EDITOR DYLAN JONES DURING PITTI UOMO
On Wednesday, January 10, during Pitti Uomo, British-born, New York-based designer, and musician Keanan Duffty will be interviewing Dylan Jones, editor of British GQ and author of the acclaimed ‘David Bowie: A Life’, as part of Polimoda’s Rendez Vous series at Villa Favard in Florence, Italy.
Jones began his career in the early 1980s as assistant editor of I.D. Magazine and became a contributing editor to street style bible The Face in 1987 and editor of Arena Magazine. After stints as associate editor of The Observer and The Sunday Times Magazine, Jones became group editor of The Face, Arena, Arena Homme Plus and subsequently editor of GQ in 1999. Jones was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen of England’s 2013 Birthday Honors for services to the publishing and British fashion industries. Jones has written a number of books about contemporary music.
Duffty is a Mentor for the Masters Program in Fashion Styling at the Polimoda Fashion Institute in Florence, Italy and a CFDA Education Committee member. He has worked as design director and consultant for many fashion brands with a heritage in music, including Ben Sherman, Dr. Martens, and Gwen Stefani’s LAMB and was most recently Design Director for John Varvatos Star USA. Duffty dressed the Sex Pistols for their 2003 American tour and in 2007 collaborated with David Bowie to create a fashion collection for the US retailer Target. He was the stylist for the 2016 CFDA Awards tribute to Bowie, featuring Tilda Swinton and Michael C. Hall, with original stage costumes created by Kansai Yamamoto and Donatella Versace.
Polimoda offers diverse and unique Master’s programs that include partnerships with trend forecasting agency WGSN, legendary Florentine retailer Luisa Via Roma, Italian fashion house Gucci and luxury conglomerate LVMH. The Director of Polimoda, Danilo Venturi first invited Duffty to give a guest presentation at the opening of the Polimoda Rendez-Vous lecture cycle in January 2017. Duffty brought his friend, Sex Pistols founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Glen Matlock to discuss the intersection of fashion and music and its effect on modern culture. The lecture was attended by over 100 Polimoda students and was followed by two days of intensive workshops with Duffty, for graduate and undergraduate students.
