Cover Photo: Karl Walter/Getty Images North America/AFP
Photo: Karl Walter/Getty Images North America/AFP
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After 28 years, one of the era’s biggest dance acts are hanging up their helmets
French electronic music legends and style trailblazers Daft Punk, real names Thomas Bangalter, 46, and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, 47, have split. The duo announced their retirement through an eight-minute clip titled Epilogue, which used footage from their cult 2006 film, Electroma.
Specifically, the footage featured the duo bidding each other farewell as they walked across a cracked desert before one of them self-destructed. After the explosion, a cutaway reads "1993-2021" with two robot hands making a circle around a sunset.
Daft Punk’s longtime publicist Kathryn Frazier confirmed the news, but she gave no reason for the split.
From Da Funk in 1995 to Get Lucky in 2013, Daft Punk was the torchbearers for French house music across the globe, winning six Grammy awards and pioneering the monumental sound-and-light shows that came to characterise the electronic dance movement (EDM) of recent years—and the famously publicity-shy music maestros did so while almost never revealing their faces.
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Above Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America/AFP
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America/AFP
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The announcement set off an outpouring of tributes to Daft Punk’s influence in not just music but also pop culture. "They always cultivated a taste for the paradoxical," electro pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre told AFP, praising the duo's "extremely elegant manner of saying goodbye to their fans".
Elegant and a class of their own, they truly are. In celebration of the influential duo's illustrious careers, here's a quick throwback to some of their most defining style moments.
A'head' of the Curve
Known for their visual stylisation and disguises associated with their music, Daft Punk had a long history of wearing ornate helmets and gloves to assume their trademark robot personas in most of their public appearances since 2001, which set a precedent and filled dance music fans with intrigue over their 'actual' faces.
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"We're not performers, we're not models—it would not be enjoyable for humanity to see our features," de Homem-Christo once told Rolling Stone, "but the robots are exciting to people."
Their strong visual presence and style established a trend and set off a slew of headgear-wearing performers among their electronic music peers such as deadmau5, Cazzette, The Bloody Beetroots, Claptone, and Marshmello, to name a few.
deadmau5 (Photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP)
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The Shimmery Saint Laurent Makeover
In 2013, Daft Punk scored their biggest fashion moment when they were asked to join the Saint Laurent Music Project in drumming up anticipation for the release of their fourth (and final) studio album, Random Access Memories.
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In the music ad campaign, the duo sported seriously sequinned Le Smoking tuxedo suits created by Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane. Slimane's creations can also be seen in the music video for Get Lucky, the chart-topping electro tune of the summer that year which featured creative pop icon Pharrell Williams on vocals. Safe to say, it was one glittery extravaganza.
Getting Lucky with Karlie Kloss
Also in 2013, the helmeted pair graced a Vogue editorial spread dedicated to 'Inspired New Eveningwear' with super-mega-model Karlie Kloss. Captured through the talented lens of photographer Craig McDean, the editorial also marked Daft Punk's highly-anticipated return to the charts after an eight-year hiatus.
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Decked in signature Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent suits, the Parisians fabulously stormed through uptown New York with Kloss, who complemented the men's futuristic look in elegant yet edgy Alexander McQueen eveningwear.
What a legacy. For one last time, thank you, Daft Punk.
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Lainey was the Digital Director of Tatler Malaysia. When not whiling away the hours watching documentaries, the latest K-drama, or reruns of Friends, she can be found indulging her wanderlust by stalking travel platforms or feeding her obsession with music. She loves animals, running, all things social media, a good conversation over coffee or soju or wine (often rambling on if nobody pulls the brakes on her), and is an avid fan of bursting-at-the-seams laughter.
