The places your research leads you to … I never thought that I would be involved in a kimono photoshoot but this is precisely what happend two months ago!
I took my friend Marion Gabrielle, a fashion photographer, to the KIMONO MAGIC SOCIETY POP-UP at the beginning of March and she was immediately fascinated by the designs of the presented garments! This led to us organising a full photoshot on very short notice (knowing the kimono designers and their garments wouldn’t stay in London too long), with the whole organisational process taking less than three days! The kimono and obi were kindly provided to us by Modern Antenna who gave us complete artistic freedom over the use of their garments. Marion got in touch with model agency Titanium Management who sent along the two lovely models Vera and Aanandita for the shooting. Jubby S. was in charge of styling, providing us with pieces of garments to wear with the two kimono that were chosen (see pictures below!).
On the day of the shooting we met at Titanium Management who are based in a small side street in Shoreditch, to have the models styled and put into their respective clothing ensembles. Having never put another person in kimono, I have to admit that this was quite the challenge! It all worked out in the end however, thanks mainly to our concept being based on a very fashionable approach towards kimono (and also A LOT of improvisation!).
After Vera and Aanandita were styled and dressed, we headed out with Marion looking for inspiring spots in the back streets of Brick Lane. This is were some of my favourite images (see below) were shot, at the parking lot and entrances to the storage space of a fabric supply company to be precise, providing us with a beautiful backdrop of brick buildings, heavy industrial doors, warehouse materials and (above all) shipping boxes!
The second location for the shooting was Brick Lane Vintage Market which provided a slightly more colourful, vintage-y visual context for the kimono ensembles. I loved how some of the motifs of the different pieces communicated with their surrounding; the lines of the Union Jack on Aanandita‘s obi for example visually respond strikingly to the The Who t-shirts logos in one of the LP record shops (see last image below).
All in all, this was a very inspirational experience, which, besides providing me with a welcome distraction from my more writing-focused research activities, offered greater insights into the way kimono and certain kitsuke (the practice of dressing in kimono) relate to and look in photographic images. Putting another person into kimono was another fascinating part of this whole experience, which made me want to actively study and practice different obi ties and bigger variety of kitsuke, particularly in regards to creating different lengths of the hem (my one-off yukata lesson in Kyoto surely did not adequately prepare me for this!). As Marion and I are already thinking about possible future collaboration, you probably do not need to wait long to hear more from us!
Clearing Lines
Photographer Marion Gabrielle @mariongabriellephotos
Models: Vera and Aanandita @titaniummanagement @veralialko @aananditarajawat
Kimono Stylist: Carolin Becke
Stylist: Jubbi S. @jubbi.s
HMUA: Margherita Fabbro @margheritafabbro_mua
Kimono Designer: Modern Antenna @modern_antenna
Assistant: Katrina Spadaro
Find the full gallery here: http://www.behance.net/gallery/95744735/Clearing-Lines
DR CAROLIN BECKE 