Campaign Decrypt: Fashion, Film & Image

An endeavour to break down and re-interpret the hottest fashion campaigns of 2017-18, #campaignDECRYPT explores the nuances of the stories behind the portraits.

Milk & Honey: JACQUEMUS

First in the series is Jacquemus’ SS17 campaign shot by David Luraschi, featuring Rose Van Bosstraeten.
Simone Porte Jacquemus’ love letter to Province came through impeccably in his spring summer 17 collection - heavy drapes, distressed tresses, rosy cheeks- complete with the perfect, traditional circular straw hats. It was almost after forever, the ramp witnessed a collection that gleaned from Provençal folk culture. No surprises- this collection brought him critical acclaim and retail success.
Refreshing ‘santons’, the traditional hand-painted clay figurines native to South France, the team takes things back a few decades to when Provence like was an unostentatious as could be. Echoing women sowing seeds and twirling to Mathé Altéry’s notes, the campaign clutched symbols of a bygone era- wheat straws, baguettes, and Chantilly lace.

As a student of Fashion Communication and a stylist with little experience, I wanted to make sure the images I created carried the effect of the original campaign but had engrained characteristics of movement that are relevant to the day. My muse for the shoot was a dear friend, Gariyashi Bhuyan- who I have seen in many sizes and always found breathtakingly beautiful. She is the embodiment of today’s woman; the way she is, not how she should be. The resulting images stood testament to the tides of change. The tectonic shift from vanity to acceptance and inclusivity, from wanting to blur every pore to leaving it be, from cinching every last inch on the waist to celebrating a body for the way it is and the traumas it has survived.

These images have not been retouched, except for the use of colour filters.

Coordinated Chaos

In the face of speculation and conjecture, Phoebe Philo made furs beige, all-black ensembles for days, lacy slips and oversized totes that would soon be every brand’s biggest envy. Vogue said she was (still) “designing clothes and accessories that absolutely define the look of this time: intelligent, artful, idiosyncratic”.
For the images of Resort 2018, shot by Juergen Teller starring Binx Walton, Philo plays ball. Giving up her illustrious, first love- minimal, architectural aesthetics- she honed coordinated chaos of prints, colour, and texture. Shot by the poolside, the campaign is enveloped in the transitional warmth of vacation season. The tropical premise makes way for colour that pops, the sweltering sun and a lot of clutter. Clutter that we love. Binx is seen wearing little to no make up, saving her face from the scorching sun. The irreverence, not unbeknownst to the Céline DNA, comes through even in the PVC backdrop.

If there was a hall of fame for design, Philo would be one of the first to go up on it. I find it wearying to have to use print. Any kind of print. For the reinterpretation of this campaign, I had to figure out a way to place print, texture and colour in the same frame, without immediately wanting to trash it. A table setting, I thought, would be an amusing way to create this frame. Pearls but red, runner but of snake skin, candles embellished with the green leaves of a stray plant and my frame was complete. A step far out of my comfort zone, I did enjoy bringing in the napkins, hand-painted china and crystal glass for a fashion shoot.

All images have been shot on iPhone, by Anmol Gupta, Directed by Ilina Luthra.

Pomegra-red

Like all of Loewe’s ever so easily understood collections, the spring/summer18 presentation also managed to stir the pot with a defiance for the ‘box’. Jonathan Anderson’s work in the 5 years of being in office of the Spanish design house has redefined the hollow definition of luxury. His eye for detail and the irreverent finesse with which he is able to perceive textile, technique and print of other nations is notable. Vogue called it a “notional neo-hippy trip” and I couldn’t agree more. If there’s anyone who makes a discerning way through the tough walls of Instagram’s algorithms, to the artistic audiences spread far and wide, it’s Jonathan Anderson. Gucci’s Alessandro Michele is usually the first one that comes to mind when you think of path-breaking campaigns that amalgamate fashion and art in a perfect concoction but Anderson makes for a close second himself. I read somewhere that the said campaign represents the “insatiable hunger for fashion” and nothing has made more sense to me since. Shot by Steven Meisel, featuring Vittoria Ceretti.

As a devotee of fashion, I’ve often found myself lusting for good clothes and accessories. Loewe, to me, is second to Céline. If I was to spend every last penny of my salary on a beige trench with a fringed bottom half, of course, my only choice would be Loewe. For the reinterpretation of this campaign, I wanted to create images that were powerful but mad representative of the engagement of food with fashion. I loved how they made the pomegranate look, superimposed on Vittoria’s mouth, with her eyes dripping of colours of the insides of pomegranate arils. With the help of an incredibly talented team, I put together this series that had a pomegranate lurking but mostly focused on encapsulating the food/colour hype on Instagram. This one needed to be a literal translation of the said campaign simply for how underrated literalism is.
Expressive, hot and fluid- tailor-made for the Instagram junkie.

Shot by Anmol Gupta; Make-up by Gariyashi Bhuyan; Featuring Ashika Bothra.

Ghost Dance

Valentino’s SS17 campaign, shot by David Sims featured portraits of super models from different ages including Liya Kebede, and Christy Turlington. The campaign had a unique contrast of black and white images placed adjacent to photographs of the SS17 show in colour. The uniqueness of each portrait came through in the cherubic faces of the younger models and the maturity of the veterans. There’s an individual expression of power that comes from each. In some it’s boldly obvious, and in others it’s lurking beneath the surface. The empowering images that initially come across as dark, are brimming with quiet confidence. The sense of mystique enveloping each image in colour, featured a gamut of blur effects- haze mist, bokeh, and light leaks. Effects that are usually considered accidental in photography, were made the fulcrum of the images. The Valentino’s wonderland presented a technicolour dream built, dress by dress, with Piccioli’s romantic collection.

For the resulting images, I wanted to take a photographic risk, so to say. There needed to be a sense of vintage nostalgia- a little bit of HUJI memorabilia, if I may say so- to accentuate sty ling inspired by Valentino’s latest collection. Layering a snakeskin dress over a pink jumpsuit ablaze, accessorised with a printed, pleated scarf seemed all but imperative. The effects had to be in line with the original campaign, with an emphasis on ‘ghost’ and movement. Inspired by the onset of the trending, analog photography, the image featured a double dance of the model. Also of a demure semblance, the model came across dancing and enjoying the teal wonderland we tried to create.