Mercurial fashions

Mercury: 20th cen-tury fashion icon

Flamboyant rock superstar Freddie Mercury (born Balsara) contin­ues to stir western imagination. Miguel Vieira, a top Portuguese fashion designer, has unveiled his summer 2005 collection in­spired by Mercury, notes The Afternoon Despatch and Courier (October 16, 2004). "Models wearing thick silver chains over black, open-chested silk shirts full of frills reminiscent of those used by the

singer, paraded across the catwalk in Lisbon...as hit songs by the legendary band Queen, which Mercury fronted, blared in the background,” states The Afternoon. Other tattooed male models wore tight-fitting black bikini underwear with the word "Queen” written on the backside in silver glitter or white tee shirts with the image of Mercury in sequin, adds the newspaper report.

It is believed that Mercury designed fashions as a hobby and even produced a few actual garments. To Vieira, Mercury was "a global musical and fashion icon of the 20th century,” quotes The Afternoon.