LONDON.- This September, Caribbean-born artist Bradley Theodore returns to Clarendon Fine Art Mayfair with a bold new body of work inspired by one of history’s most divisive figures: the rebellious and extravagant Marie Antoinette.

Guided by his signature fusion of fashion and cultural storytelling, Theodore’s exhibition — running from 19 to 29 September — will feature striking new paintings of the infamous queen, vibrant portrayals of fashion’s greatest mavericks and enduring icons such as Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld.

Coinciding with London Fashion Week, the timing of Theodore’s show aligns with a wider cultural spotlight on Marie Antoinette. This month also marks the opening of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s landmark exhibition — the UK’s first major showcase devoted entirely to the controversial queen.

Both celebrated and condemned for her opulent tastes and cultural influence, Marie Antoinette left an unmistakable imprint on 18th-century fashion. Idolised, criticised, and endlessly dissected, she stands as a figure both revered and reviled — and arguably the first true celebrity and fashion influencer. It’s this tension between fame and infamy that lies at the heart of Theodore’s work, which explores the complexities of celebrity and the cultural obsession with icons.



Hailed by GǪ as “the global artist with fashion as his compass,” Theodore is set to debut his latest series, Fashion Mavericks — a captivating collection of portraits celebrating the visionaries behind the world’s most iconic fashion houses. Audiences can expect powerful tributes to legendary figures such as Guccio Gucci, Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Edoardo Fendi, and Thierry Hermès.

As part of the exhibition’s opening celebrations, Theodore will also perform a live painting of a coveted Hermès Birkin bag — an item now synonymous with elite consumption. The piece nods to the historical symbolism of Antoinette’s lavish lifestyle, made all the more relevant by the recent £7 million sale of Jane Birkin’s original Hermès bag at Sotheby’s.

Bradley Theodore has a flair for reimagining the iconic — but never in the way you'd expect. From fashion legends to historical giants, he gathers cultural symbols and subjects them to a vivid, and often subtly macabre, exploration of their inner worlds.

Known for his skeletal, colour-drenched depictions of fashion’s elite, Theodore has previously reimagined figures like Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne and Anna Wintour. One mural even imagines a surreal encounter between Frida Kahlo and Coco Chanel. Unsurprisingly, he’s often dubbed “fashion’s favourite artist,” though his journey into the art world was far from conventional.

Born in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Theodore moved with his family to what he describes as “a very psychotic” neighbourhood in Miami at just six months old. Raised by a single mother who worked three jobs to support her eight children, Theodore struggled with a severe speech impediment that left him introverted and isolated — turning to drawing and painting as a means of expression.

Everything shifted at 17 when he moved to New York City. Immersing himself in the city’s creative and nightlife scenes, he began rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan, Björk, Tricky and David Bowie. At a time when, in his words, “New York had no borders,” anything felt possible.

Starting out as a freelance designer, he soon gravitated toward the city’s explosive street art scene. But by 2012, disillusioned by clubbing and the commercial side of street art, Theodore retreated to a Brooklyn studio. For a full year, he painted in solitude, supported only by minimal social contact — most notably with his neighbour’s son, a young tattoo artist known as Bang Bang.

Inspired by Bang Bang’s rise — and his work on celebrities like Rihanna (whose hand Theodore held as she got tattooed) and Cara Delevingne — Theodore emerged with a new visual language: bold, tattoo-like paintings rich in colour, layered with skulls, skeletons, and Day of the Dead motifs. While not all of his work includes literal skulls, his art always hovers between the beautiful and the macabre — a vibrant dance between life, death, and iconography.

Fuelled by the belief that “fashion allows people to become art,” Theodore has continued to paint the figures who define style. In 2013, he created a mural of Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour in stormy winds on the shutters of L’asso Pizzeria in the Bowery. His contact details cleverly curled around Lagerfeld’s signature ponytail — and within 48 hours, the mural had gone viral, earning 200,000 Instagram likes and catapulting him into the spotlight.

Today, Theodore’s work is sought after by some of the world’s most influential names. Collectors include Adele, Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston, Iris Apfel, and Salma Hayek— who reportedly acquired his portrait of Prince, a former partner. His patrons also span actress Alyssa Milano, actors Adrian Grenier and Jeremy Clarkson, footballers Tyrone Mings and Thierry Henry, style icon Maye Musk, model Abbey Clancy with Peter Crouch, entrepreneur John Caudwell, real estate magnate Stephen Ross, the Saudi Royal Family, and former Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Through colour, symbolism, and cultural critique, Bradley Theodore continues to dissect the modern mythology of celebrity — capturing the double-edged sword of fame with a painter’s eye and a street artist’s edge.

Clarendon Fine Art:

Over the last 20 years, Clarendon Fine Art has built a strong reputation for making art accessible to all. The Clarendon team believes in the joy of collecting and loves nothing more than sharing that passion with others. With over 90 stunning galleries across the UK, on ocean liners and as far afield as Connecticut, USA, Clarendon offers an exclusive experience in art acquisition, whether to a seasoned collector or to someone beginning their journey into the art world. Explore, experience and fall in love with art. clarendonfineart.com

Bradley Theodore:

Bradley Theodore is a global force in contemporary art, whose work seamlessly blends high fashion, history, and street culture into something uniquely his own. His vibrant, daring depictions of iconic figures from Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld to Frida Kahlo or Ǫueen Elizabeth II are instantly recognisable; with his signature bold, chromatic brushwork, he gives their famous faces a fresh, edgy reimagining, striping them down to their ‘bare bones’, as he seeks to reveal the humanity beneath the public personas.

Bradley's A-list sitters and collectors (including John Caudwell, Iris Apfel and Salma Hayek), his high end collaborations (with partners including Rolls Royce, Moet, Moleskine and Puma), his New York fashion week and Milan Design Week commissions, projects with Coachella, and subjects inspired by high profile friends and colleagues have won him an enviable reputation in both the world of art and the word of fashion, and his work is in high demand across Europe and the USA.