Daniel Lismore


Daniel Lismore is a British fabric sculptor, designer, and campaigner. Described by Vogue Magazine as ""England's Most Eccentric Dresser" he is best known for his flamboyant dress sense serving a form of statement, sculpture and even armor.

Early life

Daniel Lismore was born in Bournemouth and raised by paternal grandparents in the village of Fillongley, on the border of Coventry. He studied photography and fashion design at the Butts College Coventry he moved to London aged 17, where he worked as a photographer and model. He has been photographed by some of the world's most famous photographers including Mert and Marcus, Steven Klein, David LaChapelle, Mario Testino and Ellen von Unwerth. A prominent fixture of the London fashion and nightlife circuits, he regularly hosted club events in Mayfair, Soho and East London, where he emerged as one of London’s most inventive dressers at early noughties club nights like Boombox. As he said in an interview with Disorder Magazine, “The first club I went to was Ghetto and I discovered Kashpoint and Boombox,” he says. “Then I hosted a night at Kabarets Prophecy on Golden Square and clubs in Mayfair… all the clubs I loved have been shut down.”
Lismore has been named by Vogue as England's most eccentric dresser.
He took various jobs in fashion, including journalism for ID magazine, wardrobe assistant roles at Vogue and Pop magazine. When the fashion label 'Sorapol' launched in 2012, Sorapol Chawaphatnakul appointed him as Creative Director, leading to its critical success. “I had a dream about this beautiful Maasai jacket with a nod to Marie Antoinette. We wanted to juxtapose the richness in the two cultures, so we went to Versailles and I took out my photos from Africa and we came up with this whole collection,” he says. “Working on the collection was very unlike dressing myself. I wanted to dress beautiful women, beautifully.” Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Rita Ora, Debbie Harry and Cara Delevingne are among the label’s famous clientele.
In April 2019 he gave a TED Talk at the main TED2019 conference in Vancouver, titled "Be Yourself" where for the first time he spoke about the art of living sculpture.
In September 2019 Lismore opened Naomi Campbells Fashion for Relief runway show at the British Museum revealing one of the first costumes he designed for the English National Opera in collaboration with Swarovski for the product of Harrison Birtwistle's iconic opera "The Mask of Orpheus" it was premiered in October 2019 on stage at the London Coliseum. The designs were inspired by the artists techniques of using lucid dreaming. Over 400,000 Swarovski crystals were used in the production.

Living Sculpture

He is known for living his life as art by wearing elaborate and extravagant ensembles that combine haute couture with vintage fabrics, found objects, chainmail, ethnic jewellery, millinery and more, in an expression of eccentric, creative energy. Inspired by art in all its forms - he has received comparisons to the British perormance artist Leigh Bowery and Gilbert & George - history and his travels, Lismore constantly combines and amalgamates multiple inspirations from around the world into vibrant expressions of cultural appreciation.

Exhibitions

In 2013, Lismore presented his first self-portrait exhibition at the Tate Modern followed by another show at the Tate Britain in 2014.
His first solo exhibition, curated by SCAD director of fashion exhibitions Rafael Gomes - "Be yourself, Everyone else is already taken" opened at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta on 22 January 2016. The exhibition features 45 sculptures, each styled individually and installed in an imperial regiment, inspired by the Terracotta Warriors of China. The traveling exhibition has received over 40,000 visitors worldwide and was ranked by WGSN as the 2nd most significant global fashion exhibitions of 2016:
The exhibition has traveled to many other museums attracting thousands of people including celebrities such as Rose McGowan, Bjork and David Beckham.
In 2017, Lismore was invited to exhibit alongside Lina Condes at the Palazzo Pissani during the Venice Biennale. For the show, he 3D scanned himself and presented a series of sculptures.

Campaigning

Lismore is an active campaigner and is an ambassador of the climate change charity Cool Earth. He has worked closely with Vivienne Westwood on her Climate Revolution projects and also undertook voluntary work for the charity Icross and NWI in Kenya. In 2016, he was the face of H&M's "Close the Loop" Campaign to help encourage recycling of clothes. Lismore's personal wardrobe archive spans highlight his commitment to sustainable fashion.
In 2018, The Connaught Hotel removed its dress code from the company website after Lismore was approached by a member of staff and asked to leave. He campaigned on Twitter, 'I went for a cup of tea and a man came over and said, "You need to leave because your outfit doesn't go with our dress code" sparking a media backlash, with the Daily Mail publishing an article titled: "TALK OF THE TOWN: Hotel issues a grovelling apology to a flamboyant designer after he 'felt discriminated against' when told he 'breached their dress code' and was kicked out."
In 2016, he caused a stir when a controversial photograph of him, taken beside the British UKIP politician Nigel Farage was published on The Evening Standard. In the photo, Lismore can be seen with a "four little letters" written on his right hand, which is pointing at the politician.

Publications

In 2016, Skira Rizzoli Publications in New York published the first monograph of his work, '"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken" contributors include Stephen Fry, Hilary Alexander, Debbie Harry, Matt Lucas, Edward Enninful, Stefano Pilati, Boy George, and Vivienne Westwood The book was launched at the opening of the show at Art Basel in Miami, December, 2016. In June, 2017, to celebrate the book's publication in the UK, he was invited by The Victoria and Albert Museum to present a talk in conversation with eminent fashion editor Hilary Alexander to discuss the subject of personal identity and style today.

Awards

In October 2016, he became a public ambassador for the Tate.
In 2017 he was listed in Out Magazines "Out 100" alongside Stephen Fry and was listed #80 in the Top 100 of The Guardian’s Pride Power List 2018.