It would seem as though fashion trends are currently being influenced by political trends, and in this month’s fashion press review we see that “shock of simplification” taking form (austerity measures on great fashion images?). But happily, spring is officially here, birds are chirping and babies soon to be born. There is hope in austerity, right?
Let’s see what commerce has to say about this by starting at the department stores. In Vogue Italy’s March issue, photographer Miles Aldridge shoots mannequin Kinga Rajzak in a store window, posing next to another unknown mannequin who didn’t have the good fortune of getting clothed, or in his other image, of getting hair.
Black and white gives us a good dose of the newly coined French term “shock of simplification”, especially with the simple pattern of checkers, in this image by Julia Noni of model Xiao Wang in the latest issue of Obsession magazine, and equally in these shots in Another Magazine’s Spring/Summer issue by Lina Scheynius of model Sigrid Agren.
Even the company of others is kept to a minimum in Will Davidson’s photo of model Meghan Collison in Document Journal’s Spring/Summer issue, or in these solitary shots of Jamie Bochert in Vice magazine’s latest issue by photographer Samantha Rapp.
Laurie Bartley captures model Valerija Kelava in a brightly lit yet smokingly seductive moment for Numero Tokyo’s April issue, while Craig McDean tries to get Sasha Pivovarova to keep her seduction under a veil in Interview’s April issue.
Meanwhile, Mario Sorrenti works the light quite right for shocking contrast in T Magazine’s Spring issue with model Anja Rubik, and in a land far far away, Mario Testino goes for shocking colors in his image for Vogue Paris’ April issue. In more subdued hues, with a simple contortion of the body, Camilla Akrans focuses on the beautiful pout of Moa Aberg for Italian Vogue’s March issue.
Speaking of pouts, shocks of simplification have been known however to have some adverse effects, as seen here on model Karolina Kurkova in ELLE Czech Republic’s March issue, captured by Branislav Simoncik.
But again, with red lips like that, and the birth of a baby imminent (hint hint), one must “always look on the bright side of life”, to quote the “shockingly” funny Monty Python.
Patricia Nagy
