Macon Magazine

50 maconmagazine.com | June/July 2025 One way of honoring his legacy is by recognizing his influence, which is reflected in modern pop culture to this day. Beyond the music, Little Richard's style still has relevance. Think bold colored suiting, patterns, sequins, wide- legged pants, makeup, boots, crop tops, fringe, vests, capes, and opting out of wearing a shirt under pieces. The flame that he lit when it came to embracing androgyny and challenging society when donning gender fluid clothing – or tossing back a luscious pompadour in an age of clean-cut crops – continues to burn. L O N G TA L L L E G A CY This gender-bending expression was truly radical during the straitlaced 1950s. Even after professing that his heart had changed due to becoming more religious, Richard remarked, "I was gay all my life. I believe I was one of the first gay people to come out… I'm a man for the first time in my life." In the same interview with David Letterman in 1982, Richard explains that he was kicked out of his home for his flamboyant nature, threatened by his father for not adhering to traditional masculine standards. "My people didn't like it," Richard said. "So I got out, because I wanted to wear all of my stones and my beads." Letterman asked: "So, how old were you when you hit the road, then, when he tossed you out?" "I was old enough to go into the streets, because I had to," he replied, matter of factly. Despite occasionally trading in his rhinestones and brightly colored boxy jackets for tailored suits during times as an evangelical preacher, Little Richard still didn't get widespread acceptance in the '80s and '90s, when his career experienced a slight resurgence. In many media appearances, he's the butt of the joke – still due to his boisterous flamboyance. Yet he explicitly inspired an explosive generation of performers, from Tina Turner to Bob Dylan. This includes style setters in Macon. "I think that you don't get so many of our new artists without Little Richard," says New York-based and Macon-raised photographer Eric Hart Jr., who engineered a special shoot inspired by Richard's legacy at the Little Richard House on Craft Street in Pleasant Hill. "I think that specifically when you think about fashion, like you don't get a Lil Nas X or Bad Bunny or Harry Styles." Neither do you get fellow Macon natives like Quitman Alexander, Canaan Marshall, or Isiah Miller, who have lived in his rhythm throughout their lives. Alexander, who says he's a local designer, calls Little Richard a trailblazer. Marshall, a floral designer of Canaan Marshall Designs, calls him "the original soul, original glam. He's the original over-the-top presence." Miller, a stylist and fashion designer, says Richard was "fearlessness" and "animated." And for Hart, he was "dynamic" and "a cultural icon." "I think that Little Richard has inspired my art specifically going back to that boldness, this idea of just going through your own walk of life," Hart affirms. Alexander believed Little Richard influenced him with giving him the freedom to "just do it" and to "always carry yourself as if you've already made it, you know, because he believed in himself before anybody else did." Marshall says Little Richard not being afraid to be different, and flouting conventions of how things are "supposed to be done," impacted his work as a florist. Miller notes copying Little Richard's use of glitters, sparkles, and pop of colors as odes in his own fabrics, and use of suiting when thrifting looks. There is an intersection between art, expression, and place of origin with these four and the formative star. Alexander characterizes Macon as home and a backbone. "It's kind of one of those things where even if you don't realize that… in your everyday life or your art, it's just like truly ingrained into everything that I do," he explains. For Marshall, Macon inspires him because of the culture, history, music, churches, and schools. "I feel like it all comes from the middle and it flows

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