11 posts tagged "Fabien Baron"
Kate On Kate
If modeling has a G.O.A.T., it’s got to be Kate the Great—and without much competition. It’s hard to imagine most other models earning a full tome dedicated to their greatest hits; Moss’ comes out from Rizzoli next month, designed by Fabien Baron and with text by Jefferson Hack and Jess Hallett. Above, an exclusive shot of Kate clutching Kate. She’s got the Testino cover in her mits—shot in Arles in 1996—but it’s only one of eight possible versions. The others, below, include shots by (left to right, top to bottom) Craig McDean, Inez & Vinoodh, David Sims, Corinne Day, Juergen Teller, Mario Sorrenti, and Mert & Marcus.
Anja Rubik: Let’s Talk About Sex
It may not come as a surprise to those who have seen her work gravity-defying wonders in an Anthony Vaccarello gown slit just about to her sternum, but Anja Rubik isn’t shy about sex or sexuality. And now, with her relaunch of 25 Magazine, she’s creating a forum to talk about it.
Rubik has been involved with the magazine since 2009, when she and then-boyfriend (now-husband) Sasha Knezevic signed on to work on the Viennese title, but she’s since taken full editorial control and rebranded the glossy in the image of Viva, the Bob Guccione-published erotica mag targeted at women, which ran from 1973 through the end of the decade. But mere smut it isn’t; the new issue, shot entirely by women, features photos by Inez van Lamsweerde, Annie Leibovitz, Ellen von Unwerth, and Paola Kudacki, whose “Heroes of 25″ series is pictured above.
Calling in from her native Poland—between shooting in London and jetting off to Cannes, where on Wednesday she’ll launch the magazine with a party at Pierre Cardin’s manse Palais Bulles—Rubik spoke with Style.com about sex versus sensuality, men versus women, and the lessons she’s learned as a newly minted editor. Key among them: Don’t fear the nipple.
Tell me about the vision for 25.
I had the idea because I really loved the magazine Viva from the seventies, which was a Penthouse publication for women. I loved the vision of it, and that was what formed the inspiration for me. 25 is basically directed toward very strong-minded, ambitious women, who are very comfortable with themselves and their sexuality. I was thinking a lot recently and looking how sex is approached nowadays, and nudity, and bodies. Erotica kind of disappeared. The way we approach sex is either really prude or very vulgar.
What will be in the new issue?
Every picture that’s in the magazine is shot by a woman. We have incredible photographers, like Inez [van Lamsweerde], Emma Summerton, and Katja Rahlwes. Annie Leibovitz donated pictures. Ellen von Unwerth. Basically, the magazine consists of beautiful images. It’s less of a magazine, more of an album. And in general, 25 is more than the magazine. We were trying to create an identity, to do a lot of projects connected to it. We’re doing one with Net-a-Porter that will launch quite soon. We did a video with Barnaby Roper and Kanye West that will launch at Colette. It’s a whole lifestyle, a whole vision.
Were there editors you looked to for inspiration or advice? Or other magazines?
I had a lot of references from past magazines, and Viva was the very big inspiration. [But also] Playboy from the seventies, Penthouse from the seventies. And of course editors, yes, Carine [Roitfeld] was a big inspiration as well. Fabien Baron is incredible; I think he has an incredible vision, so clean and minimalistic, that influenced the magazine as well. But I didn’t want it to be too clean on the other hand, because the inspiration was the seventies, and the magazines in the seventies are very far from that. It was a bit of a struggle. And I don’t want it to be taken too seriously. There’s a lot in it that has a sense of humor, a wink.
Do you think men and women approach sex differently?
I think it’s definitely different. In general, I think women approach it in a more sensual way, and a more personal way than a man. A man looks at it and thinks is it sexy or not. A woman will look at every little detail and more of the feeling of the image rather than is the girl sexy. For a woman to take a sexy picture, it takes way more than for a man.
Continue Reading “Anja Rubik: Let’s Talk About Sex” »
Exclusive: Behind The Scenes Of Alexander Wang’s Fall Campaign
You might have caught Alexander Wang’s Fall ’11 campaign in July, when he screened his ready-to-wear promotional video on the sides of buildings throughout Manhattan. For the Fabien Baron-directed, Karl Templer-styled campaign, Wang enlisted Raquel Zimmermann to show off his cool-girl collection in an abandoned Brooklyn grain factory from the twenties. Here, Style.com has the exclusive behind-the-scenes images from the shoot before they go live on AlexanderWang.com tomorrow. If you are hoping to get your hands on the fur puffer (like we are), you can find it and all of the looks on Wang’s e-commerce site.
A Punk Provocateur Tries A New Tack
“We’ve done so much with punk culture,” Eddie Borgo said in New York this week. “I wanted to do something outside of that.” Inspiration came by way of a particular friend—one who just happens to make leather harnesses, latex masks, and gear for bondage enthusiasts. And while that scene isn’t one that Borgo says appeals to him personally, professionally it’s proven to be a fertile inspiration.
He’s not the only one who’s gone to the manacled well. Provocateurs have long had a history of using the tropes of bondage in their work, from Mapplethorpe through Madonna. (The punks, too, it should be said, borrowed liberally from bondage culture.) But it’s Madonna’s famous Sex book in particular—art-directed by Fabien Baron, and with images of the Material Girl by Steven Meisel—was Borgo’s particular jumping-off point. “With Fabien, [Madonna] pulled that sexual subculture into the mainstream,” he said, adding that it was at about the time of the book’s publishing that her raunchy “Justify My Love” video was famously banned from MTV.
While the punk elements aren’t gone from the collection, they’re now keeping company with pieces like restraint-inspired cuffs and a recurrent padlock motif. But despite its after-hours inspiration, the new direction is proving more salable than ever before. The Spring range has even come early to an important new retailer—Net-a-Porter, which has just begun carrying the line. (The D-ring cuff, above, is $225; the Bullet cuff, below, has already sold out.) “This collection is the most severe in its concept, but it’s come across as the most feminine,” Borgo explained. “For me, that’s a total success.”
Lutz & Patmos, With A Little Help From Their Friends
Before “designer collaboration” became fashion’s second-most frequently dropped phrase (immediately following “pop-up shop,” by our count), Tina Lutz and Marcia Patmos were doing just that—calling up friends and fans and working with them on limited-edition items in their ultra-soft cashmere. It helps that the designers have more catholic tastes than most. Over the course of their guest designers series, they worked with everyone from Carine Roitfeld to architect Richard Meier to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, all of whom waxed philosophic about the sweaters of their dreams and helped to make them a reality. Lutz & Patmos is shutting up shop, sad to say—Patmos will continue on as M. Patmos, as well as designing the more contemporary Leroy & Perry collections, and Lutz will pursue other projects—but before they go, they’ve rounded up the collabs of years past, which are now on sale at their e-commerce site. From Roitfeld’s (modeled, top left, by the editrix herself, and son Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld) to Christy Turlington’s (top right, inspired by the yogic lotus flower), Fabien Baron’s (top left), and Inez van Lamsweerde’s (top right), they’re available now for, potentially, the last time ever. Shop brisk—and click below for pieces by Jane Birkin, and Natalia Vodianova. Continue Reading “Lutz & Patmos, With A Little Help From Their Friends” »