A pop-up shop has opened its doors yards from where David Bowie posed as Ziggy Stardust to celebrate what would have been the star’s 75th birthday.
The outlet opened on Monday at 14 Heddon Street in London, which is the historic location pictured on the front of Bowie’s 1972 album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.
It is described as “part-exhibition” and “part-shop”, and will sell limited edition records and memorabilia curated by the singer’s estate, as well as featuring interactive elements.
Fans will have the chance to view rare and previously unseen footage from Bowie in the early 2000s and experience immersive screening rooms.
There is also a replica of the phonebox which is pictured on the backside of the Ziggy Stardust album, where visitors will be able to hear Bowie’s voice and interview snippets through the phone, and an interactive mirror which places people in Bowie’s most famous outfits.
The co-curator of the V&A’s David Bowie Is exhibition, Victoria Broackes, said: “I think the thing is that you can come here and buy things, but you can also come here and just have a great time, and I think that’s what’s really important.
“I think there’s something very Bowie about that, he wouldn’t and never did do anything in the ordinary way, he always wanted to take it to that extra level.”
Discussing the shop being situated at the historic location of Bowie’s fifth studio album cover, Broackes added: “It’s interactive, it’s part exhibition and part shop, and I’m sure it’ll be a gathering space, as the street has been for many years for people who want to think about Bowie.”
A sister shop has also opened in Bowie’s adopted home of New York at 150 Wooster Street, close to where he lived in his final years and created his last album Blackstar.
Both locations opened on October 25 — 75 days before what would have been the singer’s 75th birthday — and will remain open until late January 2022.
Bowie, one of the most influential and revered musicians of the 20th century, died with liver cancer on January 10 2016, two days after his 69th birthday.
The shops form part of the David Bowie Estate’s wider commemorations, which are reported to include the release of an unheard album.