David Bowie gave people “permission” to be themselves.

Speaking to Vogue online about the music legend, Floria – who worked on clips to accompany David’s iconic hits for almost two decades – said: “David Bowie and I had a working relationship spanning 18 years. I had done ‘Little Wonder’ and ‘Dead Man Walking’ in 1997, just after I did the Marilyn Manson video. He gave me so much. He gave me the permission to be myself, and that’s what he gave to the world. He really did; to all the freaks and all the people who thought differently and all the people who wanted to dress differently, he really gave them permission.

“I just thought, my God, any idea you think of [for him], you can actually make. Taking from the mind into the physical was the biggest gift he could’ve given me.

“He always wanted to flip things. It was always challenging. He would say, ‘Let’s make the shortest music video ever.’ He was always looking for something different. I loved that because he never got comfortable and just sold what he was known for. He always challenged. And now that we see that we don’t have him anymore, that’s what he’s left; he’s left us with this beautiful, daring, characteristic that hopefully we can all embody.”

However, the creative mastermind – who has teamed up with ‘Work’ hitmaker Rihanna for her recent single ‘Sledgehammer’ – has admitted David felt safe working with Floria.

She explained: “We knew each other, he felt very safe with me, and I was super excited to be a part of his continuing creativity.”