Proenza and Schouler and Divola and Dance, Together

Boy, they sure ain't kidding when they say fashion moves fast. Not a month since New York Fashion Week this Document Journal editorial springs up, influenced by Proenza Schouler's F/W2013 Collection. To be precise it's not exactly influenced by the collection, but by Jack and Lazaro's own influence for the collection (which is somewhat dubiously related to the resulting clothes), photographer John Divola's Zuma series.

The menacing mood, surreal lighting, and the state of disrepair of the location have all been toned down for the editorial, but a sanitized spirit of Divola's California-in-decay still remains. In the hands of a lesser stylist the concept could have seemed derivative or gimmicky, but as usual stylist Stevie Dance manages to capture - or create - the spirit of the times while producing something that looks and feels completely unique. Dance is exceptional for her ability to make high fashion look, if not "street" exactly, less like the wardrobes of bankers'-wives and more creatively and culturally relevant - as well as oddly wearable.

Unlike those editorials which literally re-present entire looks from a collection, in the exact same spirit and narrative of their show, Dance reinvents the context and attitude of clothes so that it's harder to pinpoint which designer or collection a look comes from. Essentially Dance has unusually great creative influence for a stylist, she influences how an audience interprets clothes rather than merely offering them up for view.

But back to Divola, better not forget Zuma itself:

But referencing the Zuma series is all pretty controversial at the moment. Divola himself is a little miffed by the extent to which his work keeps "inspiring" shoots like these. Before the Zuma series was an influence for Jack and Lazaro's Winter 2013 Collection, it was directly riffed off for the Spring 2013 Campaign. So this editorial is a little stupid on Document Journal's behalf - or not of course, they could have already known about the controversy, and any press is good press yadda yadda.

Document Journal editorial from Fashion Gone Rogue

John Divola images from his website

Proenza Schouler campaign from the depths of the web

Sassy Lady

This is just a neat editorial from Vogue Russia which does ladylike 50s, just like every other damned magazine on the planet, but doesn't make me yawn. It could be due to the inclusion of some Meadham Kirchoff, and it could be in large part due to Meghan Collison who has that knack of always looking pissed off, and a little bit scary, and like she smoked at school and still smokes now. And come to think of it how did one reviewer describe her in the Miu Miu show? "She [Prada] opened with a model who let's just say doesn't belong to the Natasha Poly school of good looks". This could be interpreted as an insult, but Natasha Poly is totally boring, so really it's a compliment.

Here is also a still shot from a fashion film she was in for T Magazine a while ago, and here is the link the the 'film'. She got sent to real life clairvoyants all dolled up and the results were sneakily filmed. The video is overly dramatic in film-student kind of way, but still spooky and moody.

My sister just came in while I was finishing this post and said "she looks like Lorelai Gilmore" (you know, from Gilmore Girls) which could embarrassingly explain why I like her but could also explain why everyone else likes her too - maybe Miuccia Prada watches Gilmore Girls! I really hope she does. I hope that every time she makes a statement about feminism, Rory and Lorelai Gilmore are informing her opinions. One day an interviewer will be pressing her for more details on her views about the role of women in society, and she will throw her hands up and cry "Please I do not know! I just watch Gilmore Girls!".

Editorial images from Fashion Gone Rogue

Last image from T Magazine