Kate Garner

About Kate Garner

Kate Garner is a British singer, artist and photographer. Raised in the greater Manchester area, she ran away from home at age 16 and was recruited into the controversial Christian sex cult the Children of God. After eventually escaping the cult, she managed to hitchhike her way to India, where she lived for several years before returning to the UK.

Garner settled in London, where she began modeling and became a photographer for magazines such as The Face and I-D. At the time, the British punk movement was splintering into the multiple branches of post-punk. One of those branches was the New Romantics, a scene that focused on fashion as much as music and was centered on the Blitz Club in London. Garner met Blitz Kids Jeremy Healy and Paul Caplin and the trio formed Haysi Fantayzee, a band known for its outrageous fashion sense and genre-defying, intentionally obnoxious but still very catchy songs. While their music seemed simplistic and childlike, Haysi Fantayzee's songs often dealt with serious topics. Their biggest hits were "John Wayne is Big Leggy," which critiqued colonialism and the mistreatment of Native Americans, and "Shiny Shiny," an examination of nuclear war. Vocal duties in Haysi Fantayzee were split between Garner and Healy.

Haysi Fantayzee's fashions were largely designed by Garner, combining Dickensian street urchin wear, punk thrift shop diving, elements of Hasidic Judaism and Rastafarianism, and sexy aerobic exercise fashions designed to emphasize Garner's slender, toned physique and incredibly long legs. Blitz Club doorman George O'Dowd took note, with his later persona of Boy George largely lifting his wardrobe from Healy and his make-up from Garner.

Haysi Fantayzee split after one album, Battle Hymns for Children Singing. Garner attempted a solo musical career and returned to modeling, appearing in the Eurythmics' "Who's That Girl" video. Garner began concentrating on her photography and eventually became a highly acclaimed photographer of musicians. She shot the cover portraits for Sinead O'Connor's debut album The Lion and the Cobra, and also worked with David Bowie, Bjork, Milla Jovovich and others. Garner's greatest contribution to photography may be her discovery of Kate Moss and bringing her to prominence.

In recent years, Garner has concentrated on her visual art, which combines photography, painting, collage and other multimedia techniques.