Keanan Duffty is an award-winning British fashion designer, musician, and educator. He is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the co-author of Rebel Rebel: Anti-Style (with Paul Gorman, Adelita UK, Rizzoli US, 2009). Duffty graduated from Central Saint Martins in London earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with first-class honors and relocated to New York in 1993 to launch his namesake fashion label.
Keanan 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. Duffty was invited to be the stylist for the prestigious 2016 CFDA Board of Directors Tribute Award to Bowie featuring Tilda Swinton and Michael C. Hall, which featured original costumes by Kansai Yamamoto and Donatella Versace. Duffty created the Master's in Fashion Management at Parsons School of Design, served as the founding Director, and subsequently as Director of Fashion Programs at Parsons. In January 2023 Duffty was appointed Dean of Fashion, Istituto Marangoni Miami, and will divide his time between Miami and New York.
Keanan Duffty's fashion collection was shown at New York Fashion Week from 1999 until 2010 and sold globally at 150 premium retailers including Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdales, Barneys New York, Harvey Nichols and Harrods London, Lane Crawford Hong Kong, Baycrews, and Journal Standard in Japan. Duffty has collaborated with Aveda, Dr. Martens, Gola, and Reebok, and served as Design Director for John Varvatos, Ben Sherman, Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B, and Moods of Norway. Duffty collaborated with David Sylvian, Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), and Jon Savage on personally signed and numbered t-shirts.
Keanan Duffty was fashion editor-at-large for San Francisco-based SOMA Magazine from 2014-2019 and interviewed cultural influencers including Diesel's Stefano Rosso, CFDA President Steven Kolb, Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle), Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), and Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire). Duffty is featured in numerous books including "Sweet Dreams, The Story of the New Romantics", "David Bowie: A Life" and "When Ziggy Played Guitar" all by Dylan Jones. Duffty is quoted regularly in major international media publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Women's Wear Daily, Forbes, and Business of Fashion.
From 2008 to 2011 Duffty co-hosted "The Juice" on Emmy Award-Winning Plum TV and interviewed Gore Vidal, Donna Karan, Laura Dern, Tommy Hilfiger, Russell Simmons, Elvis Costello, Mark Ronson, Perry Farrell, Malcolm McLaren, Edward Norton, Taraji P Henson, Alec Baldwin, Courtney Cox, Dame Zandra Rhodes, John Varvatos, and Chase Crawford. Duffty was the mentor on The Learning Channel's "Faking It: Fatigues to Fashionista" and has been featured on MTV, Video Fashion, E! Entertainment, and Behind the Velvet Ropes. Duffty has hosted radio shows on Little Water Radio, Sirius XM Radio, and East Village Radio, and appeared as a guest on Sex Pistol Steve Jones radio show "Jonesy's Jukebox."
Keanan Duffty co-founded Slinky Vagabond with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Clem Burke (Blondie), and Earl Slick (David Bowie/John Lennon), making their debut in May 2007 alongside the New York Dolls at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash raising funds for the Lymphoma Research Foundation. "Boys Keep Swinging" by Slinky Vagabond was included on "Hero: The Main Man tribute to David Bowie" and in 2008, XS games launched Pop Star Guitar for the Wii and PlayStation 2 including the track "Glitterbug" by Slinky Vagabond. In September 2007 Duffty performed at the Marc Bolan 30th Anniversary show at the Delacorte Theatre in New York's Central Park alongside Clem Burke, Patti Smith, Scissor Sisters, New York Dolls, and Moby. As part of the Tommy Hilfiger Sessions 2008 concert series at Webster Hall in New York, Duffty joined Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction) and Matt Sorum (Guns n' Roses) on stage with the supergroup Camp Freddy.
Keanan Duffty's music includes the solo albums Watersport (1985), I am an Alien (1998), Killers in Glitter (2012), Total Dragon Pop (2014) and Subway Symphonies (2019). Slinky Vagabond's album King Boy Vandals (2021) was written and recorded in collaboration with guitarist, producer, and songwriter Fabio Fabbri, joined by a stellar cast of musicians including Midge Ure (Live Aid/Visage/Ultravox), Dave Formula (Magazine/Visage), Richard Fortus (Psychedelic Furs/Guns n' Roses), David Torn (David Bowie), Tony Bowers (Durutti Column/Simply Red) and Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash). Forbes' David Chiu highlighted King Boy Vandals as one of the "notable albums of 2021" along with Duran Duran's "Future Past", Gary Kemp's "INSOLO" and David Bowie's posthumous release "Toy."