Winnie Harlow by Antoine Cordet
1918 was a particularly political year: the First World War came to an end, the Bolshevik Party became the Communist Party in Russia and for the first time women in Britain were granted the right to vote as parliament passed the Representation of the People Act. Then exactly a decade later the Equal Franchise Act gave all women over the age of 21 the vote. To coincide with and celebrate the centenary of female enfranchisement, SHOWstudio presents 100 Women; an exhibition of fashion illustrations aptly centred around women.
In everything from paintings to adverts, in fashion imagery and film, women have often been presented in a way out of their control, reduced and objectified as the sexualised subjects of the male gaze. So for 100 Women, SHOWstudio founder and legendary image-maker Nick Knight, a long-standing champion of the medium of fashion illustration approached 100 models that “empower, provoke and challenge the conventions of femininity”.
Naomi Campbell by Tobie Giddio
“As Director of SHOWstudio, the team and I were absolutely determined to celebrate 100 years of votes for women,” explains Nick Knight. “Although much has changed since women won the right to vote in 1918, there is still so far to go in allowing women to be heard. With this exhibition, we wanted to give the greatest models – those who are so often not part of the decision of how they are portrayed in fashion imagery or indeed what they wear – the power to decide what empowers them.”
For 100 Women each model was asked to select an image of themselves in an outfit that made them feel empowered and give an explanation as to why they felt this way, then SHOWstudio commissioned over 50 fashion illustrators to interpret and reimagine them in their style. In the exhibition curated by SHOWstudio’s gallery manager and fellow fashion illustrator Bex Cassie, contributing artists include Suzy Platt, Jenifer Corker, Helen Bullock, Jowy Maasdamme and many more. And the subjects of the artwork span from the original supers including Naomi, Cindy and Kate, to the whole new generation of models like Cara Delevigne, Andreja Pejić, Slick Woods and Ten’s latest cover star Paloma Elsesser. Head down to SHOWstudio and get inspired.
‘100 Women’ is open to the public until January 31st 2019 at the SHOWstudio, London. Get a glimpse at the exhibition below:
Kate Moss by Cecilia Carlstedt
Adwoa Aboah by by Daniel Segrove
Aweng Chuol by Bex Cassie
Kiko Mizuhara by Velwyn Yossy
Halima Aden by Marco Rea
Devon Aoki by Ozabu
