Nick Knight

 Nick Knight is one of the World's most influential and idolised fashion photographers. He is known for producing pieces of work that consistently challenge "conventional notions of beauty." He works on a range of controversial issues throughout his career, from racism, disability, ageism and fat-ism.  

Knight has collaborated with many designers such as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto. He has also shot both advertising and editorial campaigns for distinguished designers including Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent.

In 2000 Knight launched his award winning fashion website SHOWstudio; it has developed and advanced boundaries and pushed forward new creativity of experimental interactive projects, films and live performances. 

"I don't want to reflect social change - I want to cause social change." Nick Knight

Grace Jones

Grace Jones, (born on the 19th May 1948) is a Jamaican American singer, actress and model.

She is known for her androgynous look, with square cut hair and angular padded clothing. Her look was created in association with French graphic designer Jean Paul Goude, with whom she also had a relationship with. 

Grace Jones exemplified the classic flat top hairstyle which became popular amongst black men in the 80s. Her first album to feature this hairstyle was 'Warm Leatherette'.

Jones was also highlighted for her outlandish costumes and various personas which she would show at her concerts. A key example of this was her performance at paradise garage, in 1985. For this particular performance she collaborated with visual artist Keith Haring for her costume. Haring painted her body in tribal patterns and fitted her with wire armour.

In 1997 Jones secured a record deal with Island Records, this lead to a string of dance club hits. She had adapted her music to the emerging electronic style. 

Her music was was popular in American clubs however she found mainstream success in Europe, particularly in the UK.

In 1981 her single 'Pull Up To Bumper' spent several weeks at number 2 on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart and became a Top 5 single on the US R&B chart. Other big hits from Grace Jones include 'I've seen that before', 'Private Eye', 'Slave To Rhythm' and 'I'm not that perfect'.

Her most notable albums were 'Warm Leatherette', 'Night Clubbing' and 'Slave to Rhythm'.

Grace Jones acting overshadowed her musical career in America. She started out by appearing in low budget films in the 1970s and early 80s. Her mainstream acting began in 1984 with the film 'Conan the Destroyer', alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other successful films for Jones include 'James Bond: A View to Kill'(1985) and 'Wolf Girl' (2001), with Tim Curry. 

i-D Magazine

 

i-D, is a British magazine dedicated to fashion, music and art. It was founded by designer and former Vogue art director Terry Jones, in 1980.

i-D began as a fanzine (unoffical publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon) focused on the streetstyle of the Punk era, in London.

The magazine has come a long way from the pre-digital, cut & paste days, and has evolved into a glossy magazine. It built its repuatation on being a consistant source of information in fashion culture.

i-D magazine constantly re-invents itself to encourage creativity. The editorial content always manages to capture and inspire the reader(s). It features people in every creative field especially fashion, music, art and films.

The magazine has commended itself on being the first to scout talents such as Nick Knight, Craig McDean & Juergen Teller.

Other famous creatives such as Raf Simons, Kanye West, Helmut Lang, Lily Cole, Giles Deacon, Dizzee Rascal & Tadanabu Asano have also made their first appearances with i-D.

i-D is well known for the wink and smile on each front cover. The wink and smile is a graphic representation of the magazine's logo. Celebrities such as Madonna, Tom Ford, Naomi Campbell, Bjork, Chloe Sevigny & Tilda Swinton have been featured on i-D with the cheeky wink. 

David LaChapelle

The career of David LaChapelle began in the 1980s. After attending North Carolina school of Arts he moved to New York where he enrolled at both the Art Students League and the School of Visual Arts. His work caught the eye of Andy Warhol and editors of Interview magazine, with shows at 303 Gallery, Trabia and McAffee. 

Interview magazine had offered him his first professional photography work. Working at Interview magazine had given LaChapelle the opportunity to photograph some of the most famous of the times. He has photographed a diverse range of people, this includes Tupac Shakur, Madonna, Amanda Lepore, Alek Wek, Eminem, Lil' Kim, Philip Johnson, Lance Armstrong, Pamela Anderson, Uma Thurman, Elizabeth Taylor, Alicia Keys, David Beckham, Paris Hilton, Jeff Koons, Hilary Clinton & Muhammed Ali, to name a few.

Throughout his career LaChapelle has worked in fields of fashion, advertising and fine art photography (photos created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer).

 

LaChapelle's style of work has been described as surreal, unique, salacious and humourous. He has an ability to create scenes of extreme reality using rich and vibrant colours, making his work recognizable. David LaChapelle work has been inspired by everything, from art history to street culture.

David LaChapelle has shot photos for top editorial publications and created memorable advertising campaigns. His images have appeared on the covers of magazines such as Italian Vogue, French Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Rolling Stones and I-D.

LaChapelle's work has even expanded to directing music videos, live theatrical events and documentry films. He has directed music videos for the likes of Christina Aquilera, Britney Spears, J-LO, Moby, The Vines and No Doubt.

Phillip Treacy

Phillip Treacy is an Irish milliner who studied fashion at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. “Nobody really had much time for the hat because it was a fashion school, but there did come a point when I was more interested in making the hats than the outfits.” Treacy gained a place on the MA fashion design course at the Royal College of Art. Where he met Issabella Blow and was asked to design a head piece for her wedding. Once graduated with first class honours, Treacy established his own company and was in 1991 introduced to Karl Lagerfeld, chief designer at Chanel. He went on to collaborate with Chanel and design hats for the next 10 years and began to design for the high street. “Hats are for everyone. We all have a head so we have the possibility to wear a hat.” In 1994 Treacy opened his first shop at 63 Elizabeth Street.

In 1999 he began to design hats for Alexander McQueen Haute Couture Collection at Givenchy. “Chinese Garden” Headdress, spring/summer 2005, was a memorable head piece. Made from cork; intricate cut cork pagoda, birds and trees were assembled in to a fantasy world. Since, Treacy has collaborated with many designers and fashion houses including Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen and Rifat Ozbek and also designed for the royal ballet, films and theatre productions. 

Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen was a British fashion designer well known for his bespoke tailoring and controversial runways earning him the name L’Enfant terrible.

McQueen began his career as an apprentice in Savile Row traditional men’s bespoke tailors Anderson and Shepherd. McQueen did a variety of apprenticeships, gaining multiple skills and experiences. He then applied to Central Saint Martin to work as a pattern cutter but was persuaded based on his good portfolio work to enrol as a student. McQueen graduated with a master’s degree in fashion design. His entire graduation collection was bought by the now pasted influential fashion stylist Isabella Blow; she help McQueen launched himself as a new designer and promoted his work to the right people.

McQueen’s early runways were brutally theatrical and shocked his audiences, he was known as a “hooligan of British fashion”. Some well-known pieces were the Bumster trousers, fashionable builder’s bum, and the collection “Highland Rape”, an aggressive combination of what seemed like attacked models, portraying the “rape” of Scotland by England.

As McQueen became more recognised he was offered a position in Givenchy as Chief Designer and later founded his own label. The use of new technology and innovative ideas continually made McQueen’s collections fresh and new. Mould breaking models such as double amputee Aimee Mullins modelled for McQueen and plus sized models, you “always expected the unexpected”.

February 11^th 2010, Alexander McQueen was found dead in his flat, he had committed suicide the day before his mother’s funeral. He will forever influence and be remembered as creating much more than just clothes but life, dreams and a broke limits in what was thought can be done.  

Christopher Kane

Christopher Kane is a Scottish born Central Saint Martin MA graduate fashion designer. His graduate collection won him the Harrods design award and also attention from Donatella Versace whom he now designs the Versus collection for.  She saw his iconic body-con sexy yet soft designs and found similarities to her work. The debut of Kane’s collection was a parade of very short bandage neon coloured dresses. Kane loves intense details especially those that are powerful enough to transform a whole garment in another direction. Continually moving forward and stretching out of his comfort zone, Kane creates new garments that progress in challenging fashion and design.

Kane designed a range for Topshop that was its largest boutique collection with a designer, consisting of 39 individual pieces, which included clothes, shoes and bags. His collaboration stayed true to his original well known trademarks of neon brights, embellished details and mimicked some of his most famous and loved catwalk designs.