RIP BARRY KAMEN- ONE OF THE ORIGINAL BUFFALO BOYS.
Very sad to hear the passing of a beautiful, talented man, Barry Kamen aged 52.

Born in Epping and named Barry Owen Stephen Kamen on September 22nd 1963
Barry who also became a stylist and an artist helped to define the look of 80s youth culture. During his late teens, he met stylist Ray Petri while working at a clothes shop in Covent Garden. Ray would often go in to borrow clothes for shoots. Barry and his brother Nick became the stylist’s muses soon after.

BARRY & NICK.
His brother Nick was most remembered, in the UK for his 1985 performance in the famous Levi’s “Launderette” television commercial, where he stripped down to only his boxer shorts in order to stone wash his Levis 501’s. The commercial, directed by Roger Lyons came fourth in The 100 Greatest TV Ads in 2000
One of eight siblings, Barry was of mixed Burmese, Irish, Dutch and English descent and grew up in Harlow, Essex.
The Kamen brothers who were often thought of as twins but weren’t, and along with photographers Jamie Morgan and Marc Lebon, and stylist Mitzi Lorenz, formed what was known as the Buffalo collective. Inspired by what they saw on the streets and in the nightclubs, they had a post-punk DIY approach to fashion and were radical in their approach to sportswear and use of ethnic models.
They would often find models for their shoots on the streets. Supermodel Naomi Campbell ( who was only 14 at the time) and then 16 year old, make-up artist Kay Montano were also part of the crew. In a recent interview for Dazed, Barry was quoting as saying about Naomi, “She was just this nutty girl aged about fourteen, but she was part of the crew.”
Barry and Nick would often get photographed together and sometimes it was hard to define one from the other. Because of the Levi’s commercial Nick’s career took a different turn from Barry’s and he would go on to have a music career too, with a UK and US hit penned and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray.
Barry however took a different path. He became a stylist in his own right and was a contributor to The Face, i-D, Arena Homme +, and POP, plus working with Vivienne Westwood and Body Map.
More recently he worked with Dr Martens to make a film about the Buffalo subculture. London menswear label Tourne de Transmission joined forces with him on a collection inspired by his art, which often features plasters and cut up newspaper headlines.
What’s probably considered one of the of the brothers’ most iconic modeling moments was appearing in the Winter Sports issue of style bible The Face magazine in January 1984.
When the Buffalo movement was happening I was still leaving school in Birmingham, but I knew all about it and the people involved. After I moved to London, I had the privilege to meet and work with some of these people, including Barry who I had the pleasure of working together with as a stylist on a shoot with photographer Norbert Schoerner in Italy.

HERE’S A PICTURE OF BARRY SHOT BY NORBERT.

RIP BARRY – TOO SOON!!