Judy Blame

Early life

Born in 1960 in Leatherhead, Surrey, Blame grew up in Spain and Devon. He ran away to London aged 17.

Career

Whilst active on the club scene in London, Judy Blame assumed his current name. "Judy" was a nickname given to him by the designer Antony Price, and the surname "Blame" was suggested by Scarlett, another friend. Blame has said he deliberately assumed a female name in order to confuse people. When asked his birth name, Blame has refused to answer.

Along with Scarlett (Scarlett Cannon, a hairdresser), Blame ran a club night called "Cha-Chas" at the London nightclub Heaven.

Blame's punk aesthetic as art director and stylist helped define magazines such as The Face and i-D throughout the 80s and 90s. During the mid-1980s, along with designers John Moore and Christopher Nemeth, Blame was part of a collective called "The House of Beauty and Culture".

Blame's work, which is often on a large scale, uses a wide range of scrap metal and found objects to create statement pieces. During the 1980s he worked closely with the stylist Ray Petri, who was a significant figure on the London club scene of the 1980s, and also collaborated with Leigh Bowery. Blame designs were worn by Duran Duran and The Transmitters. Blame also worked as a stylist for Neneh Cherry, Boy George, Björk and Kylie Minogue.

Among the designers Blame has collaborated with are John Galliano, Richard Nicoll, Christopher Shannon and Louis Vuitton. For Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons Blame designed a male accessories line. In 2005, he was selling his work through Kawakubo's Dover Street Market, and had also provided designs for Gareth Pugh.