Bob Mackie, Legendary Gay Costume Designer, dies at 87
The designer was known for his sequined costumes worn by some of the biggest celebrities of the last 60 years from Cher to Elton John.
Out costume designer Bob Mackie died Monday in Palm Springs, California. He was 87.
Mackie’s designs ranged from those worn by Carol Burnett, Zendaya, Elton John, Cher, Taylor Swift, Barbra Streisand, and more. He was nicknamed “Designer of the Stars” because of his work and art.
“He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do,” a statement said, which was shared on his social media accounts. “His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.”
Mackie won nine Emmy Awards, a Tony, and was nominated for three Oscars, the Associated Press notes.
He was honored with an induction into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 2002.
Some of Cher’s most iconic looks came from Mackie. He designed hundreds of costumes for Burnett and the cast of The Carol Burnett Show. In recent years, younger celebrities like Swift and Zendaya wore originals on red carpets and in music videos.
The designer’s work often included sequins and other materials that shined. The AP reports he was also dubbed the Sultan of Sequins, the Rajah of Rhinestones and the Guru of Glitter.
“You don’t try to change anybody, you just try to make them look better than ever,” he told the news agency in 2018.
“You can mention some of the greatest names in fashion, and the average person won’t be able to conjure up, for example, a Giorgio Armani suit. But if you say to an American of a certain age, ‘What is a Bob Mackie?’ they know exactly what you’re talking about,” Frank DeCaro, the author of “Unmistakably Mackie: The Fashion and Fantasy of Bob Mackie” (1999), told the New York Times.
“For gay kids sitting at home like me or RuPaul, looking for a way out of our drab surroundings, Bob Mackie was the portal,” DeCaro said. “He made women look like drag queens, but in the best possible sense. He was a window into a glamorous, funny, inclusive glitter world.”
Mackie was born in Southern California on March 24, 1939, and, inspired by Technicolor musicals, became enamored with Hollywood glam when he was young.
“He would dream elaborate costumes for his mother and sister and sketch them, and he was active in costume and set design of his high school plays,” according to the AP.
He studied advertising and illustration at college and went on to study costume design at LA’s Chouinard Art Institute. He dropped to work in film and started designing costumes.
He often said that he was a costume designer and not a fashion designer. He said that he was not interested in the normal.
“It’s all about looking good and living your fantasies,” Mackie said.
Mackie married showgirl Lulu Porter in 1960, and they split in 1963. They had a son, makeup artist Robert Gordon Mackie Jr., who died from AIDS complications at age 35.
Mackie’s longtime partner, costume designer Ray Aghayan, died in 2011. Mackie shared the first Emmy for costume design with Aghayan in 1967.
He’s survived by a granddaughter and two great-granddaughters.
