DAVID HOCKNEY

His body of work established him as one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. David Hockney is a living legend, a master artist and - as if that wasn't enough - a real STYLE EYECON.

David's personal style - stripes, dots, prints and patterns, bright shades and pastel hues accessorized with his signature round shaped glasses - has been a major influence on menswear over the past fifty years plus. 

Regarding his trademark glasses we can say this: his sapphire blue eyes gaze behind various pairs of round glasses - he usually opts for black or tortoise frames to complement his effervescent wardrobe picks.

CUTLER AND GROSS "0348" OPTICALS

KUBORAUM OPTICALS

Hockney's signature look started developing in the '50s. He was sixteen and still living in the UK. Apparently, the story goes like this: Hockney and friends from the Royal College of Art saw a Clariol commercial on television that proclaimed ‘Blondes have more fun’ - from that moment on, the young artists needed no further encouragement and spent the afternoon dyeing their hair.

“Style is something you can use, and you can be like a magpie, just taking what you want. The idea of the rigid style seemed to me then something you needn’t concern yourself with, it would trap you.” –David Hockney

Next came the glasses. In his first year since he moved to the US, in 1964, whilst driving through Iowa City, Hockney apparently saw a pair of heavy horn-rimmed frames in an opticians. He stopped to buy them, ditching his bland prescription glasses, because he wanted to look more professional. From this moment on Hockney began to experiment with his clothing.

In the '90s David Hockney—pictured bellow in his Los Angeles studio at the time—captured his two dachshunds, Stanley and Boodgie, in dozens of paintings. Hockney's drawings and paintings of his two dogs are full of tender love. They are "not very good models," he says. "One knock on the door is enough to make them leap up." So he paints them snoozing, mostly horizontal (as dachshunds usually are), and mostly on yellow and blue backgrounds, which can be monotonous.

“These two dear little creatures are my friends,” - David Hockney

Hockney, like all purveyor of truly great art, has never been one to follow rules. And nowhere is this more evident than in his combining of patterns and colors within one outfit. But no matter how bright his outfits were, they were never overpowering, as in all his playful sartorial choices there is balance and the evidence of curation.