Mike Brookfield and Rick Read started the fashion label VIRUS in 1986. Brookfield was a textile designer and his garments were walking canvases. By the end of the 1980s VIRUS clothes were stocked in prestigious American department stores and worn by rock stars like Madonna.
The sperm print was one of the label's best-known designs. Steve Nixon, who collaborated with Brookfield as part of the Fetus Productions art collective, designed the first incarnation of the sperm print in 1984. Brookfield produced the version that was made up into this dress by his wife Sabrina at VIRUS's factory in Karangahape Road, Auckland, in 1987.
Using this item
Private collection, Fran McGowan
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Courtesy of VIRUS
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