Stephen Sprouse

Sprouse (center) with Teri Toye (left)

Stephen Sprouse is credited for bringing street culture to high fashion, and of course bringing 60's day-glo back in his neon collections. His 1983 collections were sold exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman and Henri Bendel in New York City on a small scale. His 1984 Fall runway show at the Ritz (now Webster Hall),  packed the house with the most glamorous downtown personalities of the time, including Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry. Transgender model Teri Toye led the show, which ended with a video of a NASA shuttle launching into space. He then declared bankruptcy in June 1985.
In 2001, fellow punk-influenced designer Marc Jacobs collaborated with Sprouse on graffiti-print bags for Louis Vuitton.  Sprouse passed away in 2004 from lung cancer.

The Stephen Sprouse Book, by Roger Padilha and Mauricio Padilha, was released on January 13, 2009.

You can still find some of his vintage 80's pieces on eBay, but look carefully because much of it is from his later 2001 line.