Gord Downie has always been a flamboyant showman. For The Tragically Hip’s latest tour, he’s wearing that style on his sleeve.
Downie has been sporting a collection of brightly coloured metallic leather suits during the band’s Man Machine Poem Tour, which kicked off in Victoria on Friday.
They include bold creations in hot pink, turquoise, silver and gold — an unusual colour palette for a rocker more often seen in subdued tones, says Downie’s fashion co-conspirator, Izzy Camilleri.
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“When you think of Gord Downie you think of a jeans-and-T-shirt kind of a guy,” says the Toronto-based clothing designer.
“You don’t think of hot pink metallic leather. Now we do.”
Camilleri says she and Downie started collaborating on the look last September, before he learned he had terminal brain cancer.
She says Downie kept his wardrobe plans secret from his bandmates. He only revealed his wild look at the tour’s kickoff in Victoria on Friday, when he strode onto the stage in the hot pink suit.
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“It’s really appropriate and something I never thought that he would be into,” Camilleri said Monday of the bright colour palette, adding this tour is “a celebration.”
“I think he wears them so well and he’s been having a lot of fun with it.”
Later that night, he put on the silver outfit, then the gold.
At the Vancouver show on Sunday, he walked out in the turquoise outfit, and later donned silver and gold suits.
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