39 posts tagged "Steven Meisel"
Back to the Dark Side: Panos Yiapanis on Love and His Creative Evolution
You can’t miss a Panos Yiapanis photograph. Since beginning his career in the late nineties—working alongside photographer Corinne Day—the 38-year-old stylist has honed a dark, gritty, raw-to-the-bone aesthetic that is distinctly his own. His particular vision has led to a longstanding creative relationship with Rick Owens, as well as countless spreads in such magazines as i-D, W, and Vogue Italia shot by the likes of Steven Meisel, Inez & Vinoodh, and Mert & Marcus. To add to his accomplishments, last week, Katie Grand tapped him to become Love‘s fashion director-at-large. Here, Yiapanis talks to Style.com about the new gig, the state of fashion, and staying true to his look.
Why did now feel like the right time to join a magazine?
I feel like I’ve come full circle in terms of what I do. I’ve kind of been nomadic, which is putting it nicely. I’ve been a gypsy, going from one magazine to another. I feel like I’m back to where I was aesthetically when I first started out in terms of what I want to say, so having this position now gives me a new way of conveying that message. When I first started out, a lot of what I did was very personal and I had evolved away from doing that. People would say, “Well, maybe that’s a little too creative for us,” so I started to clean up what I did, which didn ‘t work for me. I’m happier doing what I enjoy, so it felt right to go back to my messier aesthetic.
How do you balance art and commerciality?
I don’t think you have to. I always argue that the best results are when both of them are at their height. I always yap about the nineties, when brands were willing to put out campaigns that captured the spirit of the brand as opposed to the product. That seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way. So I don’t think creativity and commercialism are mutually exclusive. I honestly think they’re best when they both collide. But that doesn’t seem to be a thought that’s shared widely right now.
Your aesthetic is usually described as dark and moody. Do you feel that’s accurate?
It’s funny because when the Love announcement was made, I saw this tweet that said, “Love just got darker.” And I don’t know if that’s necessarily true; maybe I just got a bit brighter. There is a darkness to what I do, but it’s never macabre or unpleasant and I always try to adapt to the situation. The clients I’ve worked with vary from pure brands like Calvin to flashy brands like Cavalli. And I enjoy that diversity. I enjoy sitting in a room full of embroidery and fur and gold trimmings one day, and then going into a different setting the following day where it’s all about stripping things away. Love is a very positive publication. So on the one hand, it kind of works to go against that and give it another voice, but at the same time, I’m not going in there to paint the walls black. Continue Reading “Back to the Dark Side: Panos Yiapanis on Love and His Creative Evolution” »
Kristen McMenamy Through The Years
As the self-proclaimed “first weird-looking model,” Kristen McMenamy has broken just about every rule there is during her thirty years (and counting) in fashion, which exactly is why we chose to profile her in the new issue of Style.com/Print. Throughout her career, the irreverent icon became renowned for her androgynous appeal, eccentric personality, madwoman-on-a-mission runway walk, and willingness to sacrifice life and limb in pursuit of the elusive perfect picture.
McMenamy was a fixture in the glossies during her nineties heyday (back then, her cropped hair, shaved eyebrows, unconventional features, and sinewy frame made her an ideal poster girl for the grunge movement); she has shot with the likes of Steven Meisel, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Juergen Teller, and Nick Knight, who took the pared-down portraits of her that run in Style.com/Print. Along the way, she has cultivated a support system of designers. “If fashion is her family, then Donatella Versace is her big sister,” writes Jo-Ann Furniss in her profile. That makes Karl Lagerfeld McMenamy’s proverbial father. Lagerfeld did, after all, walk her down the aisle at her ’99 wedding to photographer Miles Aldridge, in addition to casting her in a multitude of campaigns and runway shows.
See them all in our slideshow roundup of McMenamy’s career highlights >
Prada in Bloom
There wasn’t anything inherently minimal about the metallic leather judo socks and Japanese floral-print furs, bags and frocks in Miuccia Prada’s Spring 2013 collection. But simplicity—extreme simplicity—is precisely the concept behind the house’s Spring campaign, which debuts today exclusively on Style.com. Featuring some of our favorite women—like Eva Herzigova, Sasha Pivovarova, Amber Valletta, Raquel Zimmermann and more—the images, shot by Steven Meisel, do away with frills and thrills, letting Prada’s strong Spring stars (and clothes) shine.
Chess To Impress: Steven Meisel Shoots Prada’s Fall 2012 Campaign Video
Continuing with Miuccia Prada’s “virtual princess” theme from her Fall 2012 show, Steven Miesel shot the ad campaign as a fantastical chess game. Here’s your first look at the accompanying campaign video, featuring models Vanessa Axente, Magdalena Frackowiak, Madison Headrick, Elza Luijendijk, Iselin Steiro, and Anne Vyalitsyna. Check, mate. The video debuts on Style.com, above.
Model Slash: Boxer Jake Shortall
Jake Shortall is a model you don’t want to mess with. Before he was discovered at a nightclub earlier this year (which has its downsides: “I didn’t remember him when he called the next day,” he says of the agent who scouted him), Shortall was just an average 18-year-old Liverpudlian whose hobbies included stirring up trouble with his mates, listening to hip hop, and training in Muay Thai boxing. “It’s crazy because when I was 15, I thought I would never leave Liverpool,” he tells Style.com. “But I’ve only been home for one week in the past eight months.” During that time, the six-foot-two redhead has gone from striking, sparring, and kicking to walking top runways including Dior, Lanvin, Trussardi, Neil Barrett, and Kris Van Assche, among others. Shorthall has also racked up an impressive portfolio of editorials and campaigns. Catch him in the Steven Meisel-lensed “Prom Night” series in the April issue of Vogue Italia, on the current cover of Vogue Hommes Japan, and in the new Pringle of Scotland ads. (Despite being immersed in fashion now, he admits he has never really cared much for clothes and gives designer gifts away to his mom or friends.)
But long before life in the limelight, Shortall started boxing at age seven as a safeguard against playground bullies, and he eventually switched over to Muay Thai. “I was getting kind of bored with regular boxing and needed something new,” he says. Muay Thai is “mixed martial arts minus the jiu-jitsu part,” he says: where traditional boxers only use their two fists, Thai boxers have eight points of contact so you can punch, kick, jab, block, and strike with your knees and elbows as well. Needless to say, it can get pretty brutal. “I’ve broken three of my ribs, lots of fingers and toes,” Shortall says. He’s delivered the pain, too: “I definitely used one of the technical kicks in the streets once on this guy,” he says. “Wait, that’s going to sound so bad! It was totally unexpected and out of self defense.” His agency has banned him from boxing for the moment to preserve that money-making face, but he plans to return to it “sooner rather than later.”