Angela Missoni painted and photographed by Liu Bolin. Image courtesy of Harper's Bazaar.
Keeping up with all my fashion magazines can be challenging. So I was happy to finally sit down and look through the March edition of Harper’s Bazaar. You can imagine my delight when I found this editorial called Lost in Fashion, a collaboration between photographer Liu Bolin and some of my favorite fashion designers.
Alber Elbaz of Lanvin painted and photographed by Liu Bolin. Image courtesy of Harper's Bazaar.
Bolin, a Chinese artist, lived and worked in an artists’ village in Beijing. In 2005, the village was demolished by the Chinese government. This prompted Bolin to create the portrait series Hiding the City, where he painted himself to melt into the wreckage of the artist’ studios. Bolin sought to blend into the background as a way to comment on the invisible sense of humanity in every environment, especially in times of destruction.
Jean Paul Gaultier painted and photographed by Liu Bolin. Image courtesy of Harper's Bazaar.
This collaboration reminds me of my previous posts on Veruschka, Graffiti Fashion, and Feeling Blue.
Even Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino said:
We felt like Veruschka in a Franco Rubartelli picture. But you don’t really know what’s happening, and all the people around you are saying, ‘It’s amazing.’
Pierpaolo Piccioli & Maria Grazia Chiuri of Valentino painted and photographed by Liu Bolin. Image courtesy of Harper's Bazaar.
Each of the designers talk about what it would be like if they were invisible:
GHTime Code(s): nc“I am Missoni myself, so I wanted to totally disappear into my fabric. But if I could be invisible, I would forget about clothes for a day. I’d be invisible but naked.” - Angela Missoni
“If I were invisible, I would look at myself as a designer, I’m not an exhibitionist; I’m move of a voyeur. All I try to do is be invisible. I’m working day after day in front of a mirror and trying to disappear in front of the mirror. I don’t want to see myself. But I think it’s a choice: to make clothes to make women visible or to be a star and to always be visible. I always preferred to be on the other side of the street and disappear.” – Alber Elbaz, Lanvin
“If I were invisible, I don’t know what I would do. I would have no people to interact with. It would have to be a very short moment, not for life! I would never use it to spy, to find out if people truly loved me, because maybe I would feel depressed. So [laughs] I think maybe I should die.” – Jean Paul Gaultier
“If I were invisible? I would stay by myself. Just me.” -Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino
“I would wear pieces by other designers [laughs]! That would be very nice for me.” – Maria Grazia Chiuri
Harper’s Bazaar, March 2012. Pages 408-417
