Kate Moss by Richard Avedon for CK One Fragrance
Kate Moss by Richard Avedon for CK One 1990's Ad Campaign
"A photographic portrait is a picture of someone who knows he’s being photographed, and what he does with this knowledge is as much a part of the photograph as what he’s wearing or how he looks." - Richard Avedon
Versace Actually Made Money Last Year!
Versace announced yesterday that it's no longer losing money; indeed, it posted a profit of $11.8 million for 2011. We all saw this coming: The brand obviously got a tidy sum (plus a lot of press) for its H&M collaboration, and was flush enough by last November to return to the couture calendar for the first time since 2004. CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris didn't give H&M any credit for the rise in revenue, instead making some vague statements about improved global strategy:
These results confirm the strong appeal of the brand globally, its values and excellent design, a strong brand management, and impeccable execution.
He added (in similarly hazy terms) that the company "targets double-digit sales growth for the next three years." So in other words, Versace will probably try to step up its high-end shoes and bags (a key moneymaker for any luxury brand) as well as build on the success of its diffusion collections to keep their profitability sustainable. More flashy gold embellishments for all!
Eve Arnold 1912–2012
Eve Arnold, the first woman to become a Magnum photojournalist, died last Wednesday at the age of 99. An American expatriate, she lived in Great Britain for many decades.
From The Telegraph, the story of her two most important early lessons:
Eve Arnold was self-taught, her only tuition being a brief course in 1948 with Alexey Brodovitch, the celebrated art director of Harper’s Bazaar, at the New School for Social Research in New York. The class, which included ambitious professionals such as Richard Avedon, mercilessly criticised Eve Arnold’s amateur efforts.
For the class assignment, however, Arnold ventured into Harlem to record the black fashion shows that took place daily in deconsecrated churches. On seeing her, the hitherto feline star model "Fabulous" Charlotte Stribling began to mince down the catwalk like a white model. "Lesson number one," recalled Arnold, "pay attention to the intrusion of the camera." In the next class, Brodovitch singled out her pictures for their freshness.
As no American magazine of the period would publish photographs of black people, Eve Arnold’s husband sent her pictures to Britain — to his friend Tom Hopkinson, the editor of Picture Post. The pictures were printed but the text changed, so that its tone was snide. Henceforth, vowed Arnold, everything she wanted to say would be in the photograph