Alaska
Maria Escoté's
Bowie Dress
Genesis
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This piece was commissioned by the assistant of fashion designer María Escoté, as a gift for Alaska. The starting point was one of Escoté’s iconic looks inspired by David Bowie. Alaska had worn that dress and it sits naturally within the shared cultural space where Escoté, Bowie and Alaska intersect.
Concept
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The goal was to translate that look into an Art Toy while keeping Alaska’s attitude and presence intact.
I wanted to focus on a confident, slightly theatrical stance and on preserving the personality of the dress without turning it into a literal miniature.​
As with other commissions based on real people, the challenge was to stylise the figure while keeping it grounded in the personality behind it.
My intention was to create a piece that felt bold, elegant, and clearly connected to Alaska’s visual identity.
Process
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I followed my usual workflow: wire skeleton, body expression and then the sculptural rhythm of the volumes to reach a beautiful silhouette.
The pose was inspired directly by the real photo of Alaska wearing this same dress, which helped anchor the figure in her world while giving me freedom to adapt it to my Art Toy language.
In this case, due to their thinness, I decided to make the stars of the dress out of cardboard.
Then, I treated colour, graphic details and contour in a way that balanced fashion and character design, keeping it eye-catching without excess.
Outcome
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The finished piece was delivered as a personal gift to Alaska.
Months later, fashion photographer Xevi Muntané, with whom I was living time ago, sent me a clipping from a newspaper interview with América, Alaska’s mother. In the accompanying photograph, she was holding the Art Toy in her hands.
