Fashion: Sigrid Agren by Alexi Lubomirski for W Korea May 2013

I love how vibrant this shoot, 'Splash' is. The ocean blue wall composed with the water splashing creates a wonderful, visually beautiful fashion shoot by Alexi Lubomirski, styled by Brian Molloy featuring French-Swedish model Sigrid Agren. (Makeup by Tyron Machhausen, Hair by Teddy Charles, Nails by Ana-Maria). I think the lighting is great and you can tell the 'sharpening' tool was on overload in the Photoshop editing room to make the light reflected off the water as vivid as possible. The shadows and light create beautiful drama along with Agren's fierce model facial expressions. I love Molloy's monochrome styling, keeping with S/S 13 black/white trend featuring sharp tailoring. Among the sea of numerous fashion editorials, this certainly stands out. It goes to show you don't always need a famous face to make a great fashion shoot, just a talented photographer, stylist and model to make the clothes come alive. This shoot features on W Korea May 2013 issue.

(Photo sources: FashionGoneRogue.com)

Further Links:

Alexi Lubomirski Photography

W Korea Magazine

Brian Molloy Fashion Stylist

Sigrid Agren

Fashion: Kasia Struss by Greg Kadel, Styled by Bill Mullen for Numéro

This editorial fashion shoot 'La Bohème' for NUMÉRO magazine, issue 142 (April 2013) photographed by Greg Kadel is a wonderful eclectic mix of fashion and eccentric styling by Bill Mullen. The model, Kasia Struss looks powerful, bold and confident in these outfits. The above image certainly attracted me to the editorial; its intricate head piece, larger-than-life hair styling, creative make up by Mariel Barrera and Strauss's relaxed yet direct gaze at the lens is certainly striking in monochrome among the glitz of her sequined dress. The fashion features influences from all over the globe, Indian, African, Oriental, American and clothing inspired from different decades as well, most notably the denim-on-denim image with a sleeveless jacket and headpiece reminiscing the Western 90's era. If I saw the clothing rack for this shoot I would not think it would come together like this and work as a solid editorial as the clothes by themselves are so contrasting. Bill Mullen certainly styled this cleverly and beautifully and with Kadel's mixture of lighting in the studio and Struss's ability to make every photograph subtly different, it all brought the fashion to life.

(Photo sources: FashionGoneRogue.com)

Further Links: 

Greg Kadel Studios

Numéro Magazine

Bill Mullen Fashion Stylist

Kasia Struss

Beauty: Lara Stone by Josh Olins

Whilst going through my daily feed of current fashion photography I was mesmerized by this beautiful portrait of top model Lara Stone (above). Though many consider her not conventionally beautiful by the gap in her teeth and porcelain skin she has managed to take the fashion world by storm; her ability to transform herself into anything. I believe Josh Olin has captured natural beauty in the photo alone and all the details such as the adorned embellishments amount to an enchanted fantasy. Her direct gaze is what I find most fascinating especially the expression in her eyes. This photograph is powerful yet soft at the same time and I believe images that possess a balance between the two are the most compelling.

Lara Stone is photographed by Josh Olins and styed by Gillian Wilkins for Vogue Nederland May 2012

All images sourced from Fashtiontography: http://www.fashiontography.net/2012/05/lara-stone-by-josh-olins.html

More photos from the shoot:

Beauty: Grace Bol by Toto Cullen in Full of Grace

Image source: http://fashiongonerogue.com/portrait-grace-bol-toto-cullen/

Whilst browsing through fashion blogs, in particular ‘Fashion Gone Rogue’ ^[1] I was pleased to find such a striking fashion portrait of a dark black woman. After researching race and beauty especially how dark-skinned models are scarce in the fashion industry it was surprising to see this headshot amongst the fair-skinned faces you regularly see. Though some may say she looks vacant I believe Cullen captures her intensity and how her eyes are almost squinting, but looks natural doing this. I love the splash of red on her lips and compliment the soft blue tones in the shadows on her skin. Her skin is flawless and the studio lighting accentuates her exquisite bone structure. I particularly like the fact she has little hair, like Daemian Smith’s photo of Kelly Moreira; Bol’s hair is natural to her ethnic make-up and isn’t straightened or weaved on a wig to look like Caucasian sleek hair. The beautiful soft tones are what I enjoy most in this image.

1. Full of Grace – Grace Bol (Muse NYC) stars in Toto Cullen’s striking portraits wearing a mix of colorful designs and makeup. Styled by Andrea Perini, the designs of Karl Lagerfeld, Versace and Charles Anastase stand out with her elegant poses. / Makeup by Kristen Arnett

References:

Toto Cullen (Fashion Gone Rogue) http://fashiongonerogue.com/portrait-grace-bol-toto-cullen/

Other images in the shoot: