When planning this shoot, photographer Johns Hopkins Congdon and I started out with a small selection of his favorite pieces of clothing. With these pieces acting as the main inspiration for the shoot, we were left with the task of deciding what we wanted the overall feeling of the images to be. Using a bottle of nail polish that my brother brought back from a trip to China and a paint brush, on the middle of a piece of paper I wrote the words 'Witch Haus'; however, after some mind mapping, we found ourselves discussing a theme that was centered around a feeling of whimsical, youthful happiness.
The styling for this outfit was inspired by a mutual love for
Hedi Slimane. When I first met Johns in high school, I was obsessed with Hedi Slimane who at the time was the designer for Dior Homme. After Johns and I became friends, at some point he became obsessed with Hedi as well. Since then Johns and I have both been collecting pieces from Hedi Slimane's time at Dior Homme. Both pieces in this look are two of Johns' pieces of Dior Homme.
When we began the actual shooting, rather than copying Slimane's own style of
photography we used elements that reminded us of Hedi in the decoration of the set (headphones, cigarettes, images of Hedi Slimane, etc.). The
Tim Walker photographs were somewhat accidental but in my mind are the image of this feeling of whimsical, youthful happiness that we were trying to purvey.
Top & Jacket: Dior Homme;
Photographs by:
