Keanan Duffty has worn many hats over the course of his career.
The U.K.-born designer graduated from Central Saint Martins in London, dressed the Sex Pistols and collaborated with David Bowie to create a fashion collection for Target in 2007. His namesake collection was established in 1998 and showed at New York Fashion Week until 2010. Since then, he’s worked for brands including John Varvatos, Moods of Norway, Ben Sherman and others, and currently serves as director of fashion programs for Parsons School of Design. In addition to his fashion career, Duffty is also a musician who has a punk rock-inspired band called Slinky Vagabond — a name he also used for a fashion collection in the 1990s.
And next month, Duffty’s history of work will be front and center at Fashion Week El Paseo at The Gardens on El Paseo in Palm Desert, Calif., where he has been tapped to create a fashion- and music-inspired runway show.
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The 40-minute-long extravaganza, titled Rebels on the Runway, will include 40 men’s and women’s looks from Duffty’s collections as well as original video content created by Italian video director Fausto Fabbri and music videos from Slinky Vagabond.
“After two years of pandemic lockdowns, people are hungry for excitement and spectacle once again,” Duffty said. “It is an honor to be invited to participate in Fashion Week El Paseo and a privilege to stage a fashion event with live models and a real audience in such a unique setting. The California desert has a very special energy. My wife Nancy Garcia and I have been coming to Palm Springs regularly and visiting Joshua Tree and the Yucca Valley for almost a decade. It’s an inspiring, authentic place with a special desert energy, which attracts a creative community of musicians, artists and designers, who by their very nature are rebels.”
Duffty described the show as a “greatest hits” compilation of some of his most memorable looks from over the years. “I find that fashion events that are outside of the official schedule of the ‘big four’ cities, New York, Paris, Milan or London, are really interesting. When you go to a different geographical location like Fashion Week El Paseo, there’s a fresh spirit. People are there because they want to be, not because it’s their job to attend.”
In addition to Duffy’s show on the evening of March 22, the 15th annual consumer fashion event, slated for March 19 to 26, will also feature cocktail receptions, trunk shows and celebrity meet-and-greets from brands including Trina Turk and retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue. It is produced by Palm Springs Life Magazine/Desert Publications.