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| ©Patrick Demarchelier |
This glamorous viewpoint has developed since Blow-Up, the cult 60s film with a leading man based on fashion photographer David Bailey. Fashion history can actually be read through the lens of leading photographers such as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton...
In the fun and light-hearted movie The Devil Wears Prada Patrick Demarchelier's name comes up, if you don't have a clue about who he is, let me tell you he's one of the most celebrated fashion photographers working today.
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| ©Patrick Demarchelier |
His work appears in top magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle. He also shoots advertising campaigns for Couture Houses including Dior, Chanel and YSL so I'm sure you've seen one of his whimsical photographs.
"You make people dream. People need to dream in life." Patrick Demarchelier
Now you can have a collection of his work for Christian Dior, the identity of the brand merges with Demarchelier's own vision in a wonderful book, with inspiring and amazingly beautiful images.
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| ©Patrick Demarchelier |
Dior Couture, published today in the UK by Rizzoli, is a portfolio of over one hundred iconic gowns from the entire era of Christian Dior haute couture, including dresses designed by Dior himself and those of his successors, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan and John Galliano.
This book immortalises one of the most important and long-lived couture houses in the world. Since Galliano's departure, everyone is trying to solve the greatest fashion enigma: who is going to take the helm?
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| ©Patrick Demarchelier |
Galliano's work has made Dior into a fashion powerhouse increasing annual sales to billions and always hitting the headlines with his theatrical fashion shows which have thrilled, shocked and amazed multiple audiences.
"You are only as good as your last collection." John Galliano
Only a few designers can deal with the relentless whirl of the fashion world, even the most visionary can end up falling into an impossible hedonistic lifestyle, abusing alcohol and drugs... Just think of Halston or McQueen...
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| ©Patrick Demarchelier |
But some manage to emerge from the downfall including Yves Saint Laurent and Marc Jacobs, somehow the fire of creative minds is the cause of their brilliance but it can also burn them.
They seem to have a wild horse inside them that runs wild and free to unseen territories bursting creativity into bloom, but even wild horses need to be tamed to realise their full potential... Que sera sera
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| Book cover. © Patrick Demarchelier |
© DIOR COUTURE
Photography by Patrick Demarchelier
With text by Ingrid Sischy and a foreword by Jeff Koons
(£70, Rizzoli New York, 2011)
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A Decade of Fashion and Style
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