15 Times David Bowie Rebelled Against Fashion And Won

David Bowie has tragically died, aged 69, after an 18 month-long battle with cancer. The news was confirmed via social posts from Bowie’s son, film director Duncan Jones.

Jones took to Twitter to simply say, "Very sorry and sad to say it's true. I'll be offline for a while. Love to all.”

The pop icon, who was famous for his myriad alter-egos – each seemingly more radical and flamboyant than the last – only released his latest album, Blackstar, on his birthday, last Friday. The album, which includes just seven songs, has been a hit with both fans and critics.

Celebrities have also taken to social media to pay homage to the music legend. Madonna said she was "devastated" and that Bowie had changed her life. She wrote on Twitter: "Talented . Unique. Genius. Game Changer. The Man Who Fell to Earth. Your Spirit Lives on Forever!”

Kanye West wrote: "David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.”

Bowie’s artistic breakthrough came with 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, an album that fostered his image as rock star god meets visiting space alien.

An ambassador of the avant-garde and a defender of the different, his stage personas – ranging from out-of-this-world Ziggy Stardust, via Major Tom, to whimsy Thin White Duke – became the worshipped iconography of a musical genre that hung entirely upon one man.

With his mismatched eye colours (the result of a schoolyard fight) and needlelike frame, Bowie resembled the aliens he wrote so much about. However, it'll be the down-to-earth David Jones, a Brixton boy who became husband to Angie and later to Iman, a father to Duncan and Alexandria Jones, that will be remembered to those closest.

Cool until the end, here’s the cut of Bowie’s finest sartorial moments.