FOREVER ICONIC: Swedish brand Acne Studios unveiled behind-the-scene shots of its latest campaign at the Galerie Edouard Escougnou on Friday evening.
Shot by Sam Abell, a photographer known for his work at “National Geographic,” the pictures showed supermodel Cindy Crawford working her magic against the stunning backdrop of Cadillac Ranch, a land art installation in Amarillo, Tex. The exhibition is open to the public until Oct. 2, with proceeds of the sales entirely going to WWF France.
The day of the shoot, the team set off into the desert at 5:30 a.m. to make the most of natural light. “It was freezing cold and pitch black,” recalled Crawford at the opening night of the exhibition. “And then the sun started to come up, and you see these silver cars that look like they are growing out of the earth.”
It was Abell’s first fashion shoot. He was astonished by Crawford’s ability to work the camera. “She would do this kind of dance: She started moving, then slowed down to hold a pose, and started up again,” Abell explained. “She was a true expert at being dynamic in the scene.”
Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Donatella Versaces, Claudia Schiffer and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on the catwalk.
Swan Gallet/WWD/REX/Shutterstock
Supermodels are having a real comeback, as illustrated by Versace’s star-studded runway for its spring 2018 show. Crawford walked alongside Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Claudia Schiffer and Carla Bruni in a joyful throwback to the Nineties. “There is so much nostalgia for that time,” Crawford said. “But that’s just fashion: every 20 years everything gets recycled and reinterpreted.”
Out of all the pictures she has posed for, Crawford picked the Herb Ritts shot of her alongside Campbell, Christy Turlington, Stephanie Seymour and Tatjana Patitz as the most iconic of all. The picture, shot in black-and-white, shows the five models naked and curled up together at Ritts’s home.
“It’s truly iconic because it looks as good today as it did 20 years ago,” said Crawford. Funnily enough, it didn’t feel like fashion history was being made at the time. “It was one of those shoots that came together at the very last second, but it just worked. Herb knew where the light was.”
She’s glad that the concept of muse and icon is evolving to become more diverse, particularly in terms of age. “I think designers are recognizing that it’s not only 20-year-olds that are buying their clothes. Nowadays, a brand has to speak to its consumer on every level. You can’t just dictate any more, it has become a conversation.”
For Crawford, “iconic” now has a whole different meaning. The supermodel gushed over the latest Sies Marjan show at New York Fashion Week. “On the runway, there was a woman older than me, a man, a wide range of body types….It was amazing,” she said. “It made the clothes come to life in a completely different way.”