January 10, 2018 |
Here’s a smart idea – how to flaunt one’s fashions while at the same time producing something beautiful in its own right, courtesy of Loewe, who drafted in the creative zeal of Japanese artist Fumiko Imano to produce a new book showcasing their Spring/Summer 18 collection. Shot on the day before the last runway presentation, Publication #17 is staged on the grounds of the Maison de l’UNESCO in Paris, the brutalist World Heritage Centre built in the 1950’s. Here, it has been transformed into a playground, where Imano employs her signature double-portrait style in which she appears to be accompanied by an identical twin, tailing Dutch model Saskia de Brauw across the grounds, and engaging in the occasional baguette sword fight.
Imano’s portraiture style is the result of an unsettled childhood beset with loneliness, a reaction to spending her formative years in Rio de Janeiro, and then her early adulthood in London and Paris until finally settling in Hitachi, Japan, her ‘Twins’ imagery sees herself in the company of an imaginary twin sister. There’s a mischievous feel to the images and Imano’s style, an innocence and irreverence to the poses that contrast beautifully with the bureaucratic surroundings and imposing glass and concrete buildings. The bad news? This special volume is not actually for sale, but only available to gawp at in store. You may look but you cannot buy.
A digital version of the publication, featuring a video with Imano, will be available to download for free from iTunes (search ‘LOEWE’)
