Sighsten Herrgård

Sighsten Herrgård (8 January 1943 – 20 November 1989) was a Swedish fashion designer. He was the first Swedish celebrity with AIDS to go public about it, "giving AIDS a face".

Sighsten Herrgård received his fashion education at Beckmans School of Design in Stockholm and at the pattern development academies in Stockholm and Copenhagen. His career took off in 1966 when he won the Courtauld International Design Competition with a collection of unisex clothing. In the 1970s Herrgård established internationally in Paris and North America; he also started a company in Stockholm and worked with television, magazines and shows.

On 29 July 1987 Herrgård held a dramatic press conference, stating "I'm going to die. I have AIDS. I may only have months left, but I want to die with dignity".

At this time in Sweden the disease and its risks were still little understood. Herrgård much discussed this with his doctors and decided that "AIDS needed to get a face". Although doctors only gave him months to live, a year at most, he survived another two years.

References

• (Swedish) 100 år med Aftonbladet - 1980-talet: Sighsten Herrgård gav seklets nya farsot ett ansikte