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May 16, 2013

Deerhunter x Proenza Schouler: Monomania

Band Members Become the Unlikely Faces of the Ever-Current New York Womenswear Line

Indie rocker androgyny finds a kindred spirit in women's ready-to-wear courtesy of Proenza Schouler in this series of photographs featuring Deerhunter, accompanied by an eponymous track taken from the recently released album Monomania. The unlikely collaboration was born from mutual admiration between Bradford Cox, the provocative lead singer of the psychedelic noise-rock band, and the New York fashion label’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. “Bradford had all these themes and ideas he was playing with during the recording of the album. He was obsessed with primitive and African art, fur and animal prints,” explains photographer Robert Semmer, who is working with the Atlanta-born band on a bigger visual project, including a film and music video around the release of this latest album. “Bradford and the drummer Moses were already huge fans of Proenza Schouler and when they saw the Autumn/Winter 2013 show they freaked out because it was exactly the same vibe that they were obsessing over.” NOWNESS caught up with the designers to discover more about this brand new alliance.

What makes Deerhunter the perfect Proenza muse?
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez: Bradford is fiercely driven to explore his craft and is possessed by it, something we find incredibly intoxicating and inspiring. It makes us want to push harder, to think bigger.

Were you surprised to hear that the band are big fans of Proenza Schouler A/W13?
JM and LH: It was definitely unexpected and funny since it’s a women’s fashion brand.

How did your collaboration come about?
JM and LH: We went to a performance they gave at MoMA PS1 in Queens a few weeks before our fall runway show. Afterwards we went backstage to meet Bradford; he mentioned that he and the band were fans of Proenza Schouler and that it might be interesting to work on something together. We invited them to the show in February and the next day they called us up and asked us to dress them for their album cover shoot.

Is it important to connect with interesting bands?
JM and LH: We’ve been listening to both Deerhunter and Atlas Sound [Cox’s solo project] on repeat. Music is really important to us—it formulates ideas when we’re drawing and working in the studio. We’re constantly looking for new music online and going off on tangents searching for things.

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Between Us: A Model's Life

Annemarieke van Drimmelen Glimpses into the Private Lives of Fashion Models

Dutch model Saskia de Brauw stands naked nuzzling a black cat amid her bleach-white Parisian apartment in photographer Annemarieke van Drimmelen’s portraits documenting the downtime of fashion’s top faces. Exploring the dichotomy between artifice and authenticity, Van Drimmelen captured off-duty models such as Sara Blomqvist and Herieth Paul in their own environments, stripped of the paraphernalia of high-gloss fashion shoots and catwalk shows. “Models are of course used to stepping into the role of a character for a shoot. Some girls do that in an amazing way,” explains Van Drimmelen. “Bringing the camera to their personal life took away the role that they knew and opened up something else.” A former model turned photographer whose work has appeared in Glamour, Marie Claire and US Vogue, Van Drimmelen worked with stylist Dimphy den Otter, who dressed the girls in clothes from their own wardrobes. Shooting in black and white on a Phase One camera, Van Drimmelen wanted to blur the line between documentary and fashion portraiture. “I try and let go of any idea I have of how the moment should look like when I'm shooting,” she says. “That's when the picture seems to come alive.”

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Spotlight

Acne Paper x Viviane Sassen

The Swedish Bi-Annual Reflects On Manhattan's Most Vibrant Corners

Dutch-born, Kenya-raised photographer Viviane Sassen demonstrates how this season's provocative palettes and silhouettes mingle naturally with their urban surroundings in this excerpt from the upcoming New York-themed issue of Acne Paper, the editorial offshoot of the Stockholm label. Employing a full-length mirror as a curbside prop and hand-held accessory, Sassen slices through each look to create her signature dynamic visuals, which feature regularly in Vogue France, AnOther Magazine and i-D. "Sassen is a kind of camouflage artist," explains Acne Paper Editor-in-Chief Thomas Persson, who describes the photographer's world as one of "visual beauty and engagement." Taking cues from the cartoon-colored sidewalks of Manhattan, stylist Mattias Karlsson fashions a collage of ready-to-wear looks from perpetually ahead designers like Miu Miu, Chalayan, and Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquière, alongside game-changers Proenza Schouler and Christopher Kane. Under Sassen’s lens, the clothes echo the graffiti-splashed New York of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, demonstrating that it doesn’t take restraint to blend in with the local wildlife––just a good dose of self-reflection.

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