Bill Cunningham, the Pioneer of Street Style

We love searching for street style photos, to check out outfits and to find items and that will inspire us. But, let’s speak a little bit about how this phenomenon begun and, of course, about the legendary creator of this kind of photos, Bill Cunningham – ”Master Photographer and Godfather of Street Style”, who passed away yesterday at 87 years.

Always travelling the streets with his bike in Midtown of New York, Bill Cunningham worked for New York Times for almost 40 years, taking photos for his regular and popular column ‘’On the streets’’ He took photos of strange outfits, stylish items, people who inspired him or worldwide celebrities. It didn’t matter they were celebrities or regular people. Day by day, or during Fashion Weeks, Bill was always there to capture inspirational outfits that caught his attention. Cunningham’s previously work also includes working for Women’s Wear Daily and the Chicago Tribune. His career as a fashion journalist made him also an important personality in this stylish world and he managed to introduce to the public brands that are today really popular, like Azzedine Alaïa or Jean Paul Gaultier.

Bill had a modest life and was always easily spotted by wearing his blue jacket, his camera that hanged on his neck and his smile. Photos were all that mattered to him and picture by picture, he observed closely the street style fashion history. So, we can easily say he was an anthropologist of the New York culture and fashion and was also designated a living landmark for New York in 2009. “We all dress for Bill,” explained Anna Wintour for The New York Times.

To celebrate his memory we strongly recommend you to watch ‘’Bill Cunningham New York’’ a documentary launched in 2010 about Bill’s life and work, starring also fabulous personalities such as Iris Apfel or Anna Wintour.

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