Freddie Mercury's rainbow-coloured satin arrow appliqué jacket, 1982

Freddie Mercury's rainbow-coloured satin arrow appliqué jacket, 1982

Worn on the ‘Hot Space’ tour, 1982

the intricately made jacket cut in short matador style comprising a purple satin ground covered overall with numerous padded satin arrows in a myriad of bright colours edged in black, the arrows stitched individually in a dense cascade pattern descending in size from the shoulder to the hem and giving an overall effect of movement similar to the feathers of an exotic bird, lined in black satin and fastening at the front with Velcro, unlabelled

This jacket was made in America for the ‘Hot Space’ tour, 1982 and was briefly worn by Freddie on stage. According to Peter Freestone, Freddie loved the jacket but found it was not well suited to stage use so only wore it on a few occasions. It was heavy, making it hot to wear and difficult to take off quickly for a quick costume changes. Shots of Freddie wearing the jacket appear on the front and back covers of Freddie Mercury’s solo single 'Made In Heaven', 1985, and for corresponding promotional material.

LITERATURE

Freddie Mercury – The Great Pretender, A Life In Pictures, Welbeck, 2020, illus. pp.90-91 (Neal Preston photograph of Freddie wearing the jacket on stage).

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