[ humans ] Patti Smith

Poet, punk, artist, feminist activist & mother: Patti Smith in attitude and identity remains one of the most influential figures in both the fashion and music industries today. Commonly referred to as the “Godmother of rock” the 68-year-old pioneer’s androgynous style has stirred the creative workings of innumerable artisans and designers, such as Marc Jacobs & Ann Demeulemeester.

The iconic image by Robert Mapplethorpe of her garbed in a deconstructed suit with a tie haphazardly swung around her shoulders, gracing the cover of her famous 1975 album, has long played muse to high-fashion sects and underground cult publications alike. And then there is her writing.

SMITH’S lyrical style is as easily distinguishable as her sartorial. Her notes, intensely honest and raw, are inspired by periods of passion and emotional upheaval in her life. Questions of the confines of religion and curiosities about greater existentialism form a poignant heartbeat to her prose. Her work is given shape and meaning through a series of legitimate life traumas such as adoption, falling off stage & breaking two vertebrae in her neck as well as the unbearable grief of losing her lover Robert Mapplethorpe, and untimely deaths of her husband and brother within the space of a year.

Despite the darkness that has enveloped SMITH for most of her adult life, the activist shows no signs of slowing down. Continuing to tour throughout 2015 and set to release the sequel of her memoir “Just Kids”, “M train”.