Chanel Rising

Under the hypnotic spell of strobe lights and neon lasers, Chanel Iman seduces in a bold new short by husband-and-wife duo Dusan Reljin and Hilde Pettersen Reljin. Chanel Rising came about after a chance conversation with the part-Korean African-American model, who has graced the cover of Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and i-D among others, revealed that pole dancing was her favorite new hobby. Intrigued by her admission, Norwegian photographer Dusan asked if he and his wife could film her in action and capture her personal interest in the exercise craze taking over New York. Having previously shot Iman for Italian Vogue and Victoria’s Secret, the duo enlisted a special effects lighting team for the voyeuristic personal portrait. “We wanted all the colors to be very primary, saturated and strong, so that the whole thing would be very powerful,” explains Dusan. “Even though she is doing something very exotic and visual, the color schemes that we used make her part of the environment.” Recently appearing in Usher’s new “Dive” video, Iman has just launched her backpack design for the Runway to Win collection supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.