David Bowie is a pioneering artist & performer whose career has spanned nearly 50 years & brought him international acclaim. He has sold over 140 million albums & been cited as a major influence on contemporary artists & designers working across the creative arts. This is the first book produced with access to the David Bowie archive of performance costume ephemera & original artwork by the artist which is brought together to present a completely new perspective on his creative work & collaborations. The book traces his career from its beginnings in London through the breakthroughs of Space Oddity & Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars & on to his impact on the larger international tradition of twentieth-century avant-garde art. Essays by V&A curators on Bowie's London image & influence on the fashion world are complemented by Christopher Frayling Mark Kermode & Philip Hoare on film; Howard Goodall on musicology; Camille Paglia on gender & decadence; & Jon Savage on Bowie's relationship with William Burroughs & his fans.