Bryan Ferry's Olympia

Kate Moss is the latest iconic beauty to become muse to Bryan Ferry, the suave former frontman of Roxy Music, whose previous album cover girls have included a jaguar-toting Amanda Lear (for Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure, 1973) and blond bombshell Jerry Hall (for Siren, 1976). Moss clambered between the sheets for photographer Adam Whitehead to pose for the cover of Ferry’s first solo album in eight years, Olympia, which is released today and accompanied by the 30-minute documentary The Making of Olympia. Olympia's artwork—exclusive outtakes from which are previewed here—takes inspiration from the 1863 Manet painting of the same name, depicting a reclining courtesan wearing nothing but a velvet choker and a pair of gold mules. It was shocking at the time, Ferry explains, because the accessories sexualized its subject, departing from the aesthetic purity of classical nude paintings. For his reinvention of the masterpiece, Ferry made some crucial updates. “I think her modern-day equivalent would prefer to wear diamonds rather than the choker,” he explains. He even picked out her exquisite jewels himself, hotfooting it to London antique dealers S.J. Phillips to find the aquamarine and 240-karat gold necklace (made just a few decades before Manet painted his Olympia) that Moss sports in the photos. “As they say,” Ferry exclaims, “it’s all in the details! Photography from Bryan Ferry's Olympia will be exhibited from October 27 at Philips de Pury, London.


Discover more about the making of Olympia: join us in the studio with Bryan Ferry and read our exclusive interview.