WHO EVEN IS BOWIE WITHOUT OLA HUSTON? : the woman behind bowie

I’m sure we have all heard of the Star Man, David Bowie. But do you know the woman fallen from earth? the creative genius and brilliant eye of OLA HUSTON.

OLA HUSTON. daisydodsworth

Ola was born and grew up in Los Angeles in 1946 and she studied dance and it’s known that she was a successful one and had a great bright future ahead of her, however sometimes I know I have, you have second thoughts and realised just because you are good at something it doesn’t mean that it’s what you have do it even if you are told to do so. She then marriage a graphic designer who was in the magazine field and Ola took part in some modelling which introduced her into the fashion field.

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Ola started off her fashion carer by working in ladies clothing boutiques which gave her the skill set to let her creative ideas take off, She was particularly successful in creating Avant Garde looks for rock-and-roll. She then worked with several musicians, providing designs for The Pointer Sisters, Ringo Starr, Carly Simon and John Lennon. In the mid-1970s, Hudson designed outfits for Bowie’s 1974 Diamond Dogs tour of the US. Which started off their creative partnership and the hook up with Bowie, provided a stylistic bridge between his late glam phase and androgyny. When Hudson worked with David Bowie in the mid-1970s, the relationship started out professional, but later they became lovers; this relationship developed into a full-blown fashion collaboration. Hudson has been underrated in the narratives of both Bowie’s visual identity and the look of popular music when it was at its most potent.

I think this is due to societies systemic racism which still to this day is still an issue especially seeing as Ola was a black woman. Not only did she have the gendered inequalities of the 70s but would of definitely suffered from racial abuse too. This is key to the understanding and social contexts of the time and probably why Ola isn’t a household name, yet her work is one of the most recognisable that stands out and has influenced designers who came after her. Her vision has impacted the world of fashion design in ways that I think were subtle but insidious. The relevance that she was both involved in design and dance in the sixties and seventies when both those worlds where and mostly still are overwhelmingly male and white dominated.

As a white bisexual woman, myself, I too suffer from the inequalities of society yet something I can do that Ola couldn’t is that I can hide my sexuality that could lead me to oppression but Ola and all people of colour cant just take off their race and why should they have to. They can’t just hide their identities, it’s the first thing we notice about one another even if we say it isn’t. This is the truth, and I can’t even imagine how hard Ola would of had to work to even get her voice heard in the time period she was in when I full well know that there is still an insane amount of racial inequalities to this day, in this industry and all.

She inspired me in many ways as I have always been a huge bowie fan, he is once of my idols, but if bowie is one of yours, whether you like it or not, this incredible, creative and determined black woman is to. She mastered the concept of “menswear” but somehow also embraced Bowie’s gender fluidity–all while bringing in a flair for the funk and blues that flow their way through Bowie’s music.

You’ll find behind most success in all industries is a black woman and it’s just whether they get the credit they deserve. Which is a main reason as to why I wanted to give Ola this space on my website, place she rightfully deserves. Unfortunately, Hudson passed in 2009 at the age of 62. A life cut too short.

DAISY D.