EMILY GARDNER
Throughout this publication, I will be introducing my top influential practitioners who have contributed towards the fashion industry. Each of them are so distinctive, yet they all share common themes throughout their work. I am most inspired by their use of vivid colours and playful compositions which are the core to their work. They inspire me because of their willingness to advance in the industry, and their ability to push the boundaries of how we perceive fashion. But most importantly, they all celebrate individuality, whether that regards the subjects they photograph or the clothes that they wear. These practitioners have made a meaningful stamp on society by blurring the lines between traditional gender stereotypes and producing their work with the end-goal of inclusivity. The images I have produced throughout this module have been inspired by the work of each creative. I wanted to create images that are out of my habitual comfort zone. The series is inspired by the futuristic, hi-tech elements that run throughout my practitioners’ work. The styling encapsulates a combination of striking neons with plastic chains, statement belts and holographic couture. I shot through prismatic plastic and experimented with iridescent film to create some interesting effects. The outcomes have encouraged me to keep discovering new approaches to image making and have sparked a new-found curiosity in me.
Cristobal Balenciaga is a tireless perfectionist and one of the leading couturiers of the 20th century. Balenciaga was always able to be several steps ahead of other design houses. His clothes were so beautifully designed, that the women who wore them did not require a perfect body, and they would always be both fashionable and comfortable. Evening coats, beautiful skirts, and sweeping silk gowns were a classic staple to his name. 80 years later, the Balenciaga brand is known for its elevated streetwear and recently its greatest volume driver is Shoes. I believe one of the biggest impacts Balenciaga has had on its customers is their release of the Triple S trainers, selling out online before they were even released. These “dad shoes� sparked my love for chunky trainers. I find it amusing how much Balenciaga has changed since under the influence of its later designers. However, I really admire when such a high-fashion name experiments with its style and I believe that their adaptability is the key to their success.
K
Kevin Tachman is a documentary photographer best known for his stunning backstage images. He takes his images at events such as Fashion Week or simply behind the set of a photo shoot. What I love about his work is that every image makes you feel like you are there but seeing things through Tachman’s eyes is much more interesting. All of his images have a strong focus on movement and colour. My favourite images are the ones that are slightly blurred and candid – this makes them more interesting to look at and triggers my curiosity. Tachman’s images make me wish I was there behind the camera, but I am thankful for his posts as they make me feel as though I’m not missing out on the excitement. He makes me realise that I should capture what excites me and be less precious with the composition of an image.
Craig Green is a London-born menswear designer who established a label in his own name in 2012 after graduating from Central Saint Martins. His innovative success has been growing ever since on a more global scale. Green’s label has earned a loyal customer base and stocks in stores such as Selfrides and Dover Street Market. His designs explore concepts of uniform and utility within menswear. I am particularly fascinated by his Autumn/Winter 19 collection. Plastic sheets were draped around the models from head to toe and even covered some of their faces. I loved the bold look of this collection and it is what drew me to his work to begin with. Most of all, I admire Green’s attitude towards his shows as he emphasises the importance of the man alone, not the environment he is in. But if anyone could pull off sending an explosive rainbow of plastic cocoons down the runway, it would be Craig Green.
I believe Petra Collins will forever be high up in my list of favourite practitioners. Her photography is so mesmerizing in every way and her campaign work is outstanding. She is synonymous with her ethereal, pastel-hued portraits and ability to give a voice to female adolescence. She is undoubtedly one of the most influential image makers around. In an interview, she compared taking a photo to choreographing a dance and explained how it is all about the way she moves and how her subjects react to that behind the camera. I admire her approach because I think its really important for a photographer to have a real interest in their subjects. Some of my favourite work that she has done includes her campaign work for Gucci. Specifically, I loved her film for the Gucci Eyewear campaign. There is something so nostalgic about it which is uplifting to watch. She is truly an inspiration to all female creatives.
Adrienne Racquel is my go-to for aesthetically pleasing images. She is a New York based creative who is known for her photography and art direction. Her work is inspired by tropical vibes and femininity and her Instagram feed is refreshing and so nostalgic. She has previously partnered with a variety of brands due to her distinctive style and composition. I love that her work is hugely inspire by what she sees when she travels and how she aims for her photography to radiate good vibes. The fact she occasionally shoots in her own home to create her images proves that great images do not always result from crazy equipment. I adore the vibrant tones in her images, and specifically her attention to little sparkly details. She inspires me to be more aware of my surroundings, and to take inspiration from them when I produce my own work.
I discovered Neil Krug through Instagram and was immediately amazed by his work. He is a photo artist and filmmaker with a reputation for creating a visual utopia. His work is engaging to me because he never fails to create a beautiful scenic narrative in a single photo. His photos have a dream-like quality, bursting with bold neons and ultraviolet hues. His kaleidoscopic portfolio of work embraces high saturation and a psychdelic aesthetic. I love his work because it is otherworldly, which is something I feel is hard to achieve with just some camera equipment. Neil captures his fragmented daydreams as quick as possible to avoid overthinking. It baffles me how he achieves such beautiful results at such a quick pace. This has inspired me to adopt this approach in my own work, by lowering my expectations of myself and being less precious when shooting.
Yuima Nakazato is a Japanese womenswear designer. He has created his own label in his name and is famous for his futuristic, space age fashion designs. His Spring/Summer 2018 couture ‘Harmonize’ illustrates the state in which the human body and the garment complement each other. This delicate balance is the way Yuima Nakazato envisions the future of the fashion industry. I appreciate his consideration in material sourcing – for this particular collection he used entirely recycled materials such as parachutes, laminated plastics and materials used for road signs in Japan. I think this is so important to consider in a society that is so ahead of itself. If all designers were more like Nakazato, we could help decrease the impact on the environment that fast fashion is currently responsible for. I believe he should be applauded for creating such a unique collection with such limited resources and I’m excited for what he conjures up next.
I only discovered Laetitia Mannessier’s work recently. She is a photographer and stylist with a beautiful archive of photography. My favourite work that she has produced is the editorial she shot for Vogue Ukraine. I particularly love the way she styled these shots. The combination of neon sportswear and retro windbreakers screams eighties fashion. I really love the variety throughout her work. In some photos, she has carefully considered the posing of her subject, yet in others there is a candid nature. I particularly love her blurred images, as if they are happy accidents. I think some of the most interesting images are not always perfectly crisp. The main thing that stands out in her work, however, is her attention to scenery. Some of her recent work consists of models posed within vivid sunset landscapes. The images create a visual paradise, which inspires me to play around with landscapes in the future,
Jimmy Marble is an LA-based director and photographer who I have only discovered recently. I instantly fell in love with his work as soon as I saw his work for Forever Young Magazine. He photographed the model through a glass ball which flipped the perspective and gave the image a fish-eye effect. I love the distorted effect this had on the image. It has given me the urge to play around with different effects and experiment more with composition in my images. I also love the image he produced for Paper Magazine, where he photographs the reflection of a models face in fragmented pieces of mirror. His images are visually interesting and feel dream-like. His use of colour is much more muted compared to previous image-makers I have been inspired by. I truly love how hazy and soft they are.
Daniel Sannwald is a German fashion photographer who loves to push the boundaries with the medium of photography. He likes to blur our perception of what constitutes fashion, which is something that excites me. By simply visiting his website, you can scroll endlessly through a portfolio of work which is entirely glitched and spliced apart to give the appearance of a hacked webpage. I think this is so original and so refreshing to see. His book, Spektrum, is also a visual explosion of colour and glitchy aesthetics. He is inspired by old video games hyper-realism and sci-fi to create these compositions and edit them in such distorted ways. I admire how his work deviates from the traditional, cleancut side to fashion photography. The simple inspirations from his childhood such as glitches on his TV and broken printers make me realise that it is possible to turn the unconventional into something beautiful and being observant to small details can inspire bigger projects.
R
Rei Kawakubo is the founder of one of my favourite brands, Comme des Garcons. The clothing she designs protrudes the human body and distorts it in a unique way, creating a new perception of beauty and pushing the boundaries of gender stereotypes. My favourite collection of hers was her “Body meets dress, dress meets body” collection for spring/summer 1997. I love the way she stretched layers of fabric over huge pads and modified the model’s bodies to defeminize them. Her designs deviated from traditional norms and made you question the female silhouette. More recently, Kawakubo and her husband have co-founded Dover Street Market – a one stop styling destination for the latest in fashion collaborations. This is one of my favourite places to wander around because it houses some of my favourite brand all under one roof. The visual merchandising and all the installations are also incredible. Rei Kawakubo is an iconic bad-ass.
Virgil Abloh is not only the founder of the Off-white label, but he is also a creative director for Louis Vuitton’s men’s division. I have always loved the Off-White label as it is a young brand that focuses on embracing the now and injects excitement into seasonal streetwear. Virgil has successfully combined an edgy street aesthetic with luxury fabrication in his designs which are becoming increasingly popular. I have been recently fascinated with his recent collaboration with Louis Vuitton in their Spring/Summer 2019 collection. Together they have re-invented pieces such as the Keepall duffel bag, with brand new fabrication. I am obsessed with the combination of the historic monogram design with Virgil’s futuristic twist, adding an iridescent oilslick finish and a plastic chain strap. These futuristic elements have really inspired my styling in this module. I admire how fashion-forward Virgil’s designs have always been and I look forward to what’s in store next.
Yoon Ambush is effortlessly cool. She co-founded Ambush Design, in which she began designing album artwork. In 2004, this led to a couture jewellery line which was worn by the likes of Kanye West. More recently, she has become a jewellery designer for Dior’s menswear fashion house, which is how I discovered her work. Her Instagram is filled with futuristic jewellery designs, neons and chunky chains which I am obsessed with. Ambush began developing a clothing line by 2015 as she wished she had a canvas for her designs.
h ow Ambus s I love h isregard d y l e t e compl ablished t s e g n o l rding pes rega y t o e r e e t s favourit y M . n o i fash the hers is f o k r o w Nike Ambush x uring on, feat i t a r o b a ck Coll its, tra u s y d o b The sporty ackets. j d n a s pant iling is a t e d e v nge reflecti d the ra n a , g n i excit -tech has a hi c which aestheti cent s her re t n e m i l p gns com ery desi l l e w e j the robotic such as , r o i D for ring. android
JUCO is a collaboration between Julia Galdo and Cody Cloud bound together by their passion forcreativity. I discovered JUCO through Instagram and ventured into their stunning portfolio of work. I fell in love with their website, where all of their images are beautifully arranged so that they cascade from one colour to the next. They play around with bold clothes and backdrops to create eye-popping compositions which I can’t get enough of. Each image they produce has so much character, whether it is a strong portrait or some campaign imagery. They have worked with a load of brand such as Nike, Teen Vogue and Apple. I love how they will sometimes use a bunch of fancy equipment throughout a shoot but equally love to shoot in natural light. Regardless, they never fail to produce a rainbow of work. JUCO have made me realise the importance of having fun on a shoot and have encouraged me to be bolder with colour.
Michelle Watt is a portrait and fashion photographer who has worked with clients such as The North Face and ONU. Her photography has a huge focus on small details within an image and has a unique eye for composition. She is known for her tableaux style and tells a narrative throughout her images. I love that she is inspired by image associations, which is so unusual compared to other practitioners and results in original creations. The fact that she aims to create something new instead of re-creating images that already exists is an inspiration to me. I often wish I could produce an image like one I have seen, when really, I should be generating new ideas. I love her photo series ‘Is there wife on mars’ – featuring a variety of strong poses and super metallic fashion. I love how she styled the photos and utilised a belt to accessorise in an interesting way. This has definitely influenced my styling for this project.
Alexandra is one of my current favourite imagemaker’s to follow on Instagram. She has worked with brands such as Adidas, Converse and Milk Studios alongside a load of others. What I love about her most is her outlook on her work. She is a strong believer in not conforming to a personal style. She prefers to try new things everyday, rather than being repetitive with her ideas and locations. I love this idea and I hope to adopt this approach someday in my own work. I personally do not feel as if I have a style, but I feel the constant pressure to identify with one. Knowing that there are imagemakers who have this approach is reassuring and it reminds me that it is okay to be experimental. I love that her style is always tailored to who she is communicating with behind the camera. She produces work the way that she feels is right dependent on her subjects and location which I think is way more exciting than following a style.
Ben Toms is an inspirational photographer to me due to his playfulness with colour and composition. He has worked alongside Vogue, Versus Versace and Dazed magazine to name a few. His work is varied in style, but it is always eye catching and it took me a while to figure out what drew me in. My favourite photos of his are from his extended cover shoot for Dazed magazine featuring Kendall Jenner. The series of images intend to represent all the weird and wonderful sides of her personality. The images that stand out to me are definitely the slightly surrealist ones. I love a photo that locks you in for a while. Ben has a great eye for the extra-ordinary, which is also displayed throughout his postcard collection. They are considered souvenirs of his imagination – I love this concept.
Alice Hawkins was immediately commissioned by i-D magazine for her playful and flashy images. She is naturally attracted towards outrageous individuals and aims to celebrate the unique members within society. I will always respect a creative who has a high interest in individuals who stand out as I feel that this is a step in the right direction to unite society. It is so important to recognise our differences and encourage them and this is exactly what Alice is achieving with her work. When she takes photos, they are intimate, and she never alters the appearance of her subjects to fit an idea. She will only ever heighten their personalities through her photos and flatter them. I love that she cares so much about her subjects and I think every photographer should share this interest. I believe it shows in the images. I hope one day I can step out of my comfort zone and source models simply for their exuberant characteristics.
EDMOND LUU
V
Viktor Sloth was undoubtedly the best photographer I discovered over the course of Summer last year. He has a distinguished eye for composition and an ability to create an image that has a cinematic impact. I stumbled across him when I saw the editorial he shot for Pawaka Eyewear’s Spring/Summer 18 collection. I fell in love with these images immediately and they have been one of the greatest influences on my work for this project. He shot the photos in Ibiza, creating a beautiful hyperreal landscape. The campaign captured the harmonization between nature and the body and blurred these lines with plenty of iridescent fabric. I am obsessed with the contrast between the saturated landscapes and the holographic clothing. Viktor Sloth aims to convey his spirit and soul within his photography which results in every piece of work telling a story.