Steven Meisel: Fashion Pygmalion | DIVAS WE LOVE Series
Among photographers there are many mega-talents, but only a very exclusive group will be heralded as living legends. Steven Meisel, the man behind some of the fashion world’s most sought-after advertising campaigns and magazine editorials, is one of these legends. His photos not only act as a fashion litmus test for countless “counterfeiters,” they often turn into contemporary fashion history markers.
Pop Culture besties, Steven Meisel and Madonna, 1992
Linda Evangelista in Vogue Italia, August 2005 by Steven Meisel
Nadja Auermann and Steven Meisel at Dressing Table,1995
Fashion and fashion models fascinated Meisel growing up in New York. From an early age he studied old fashion photographs and came to appreciate the symbiotic relationship between the photographer and the model. His artistic style might be considered historical in the sense that he reinterprets preexisting shots or concepts, but through his creative eye he establishes a cutting-edge, contemporary aesthetic.
Linda Evangelista for Valentino – Fall 1987-Winter 1988, photo by Steven Meisel
Lanvin – Fall 2013-Winter 2014 Campaign by Steven Meisel
Going grunge with Nadja Auerman and Kristen McMenamy, Vogue Italia, December 1992, photographed by Steven Meisel
Loewe – Fall 2014-Winter 2015 Campaign featuring a 1997 photo of Maggie Rizer by Steven Meisel taken in 1997 for Vogue Italia, and Mr. Anderson’s updated Flamenco bag
The 1990s gave him a unique platform to express his creativity with its interconnected fashion cultures – minimalism to deconstruction, romanticism to grunge. Madonna’s controversial 1992 book and video, SEX, put him on the map as a go-to fashion photographer (the book was banned in Japan, which only ignited more frenzy around it). The shoot is still considered a classic work today.
Photo from Madonna’s SEX book
Toccara Jones in “All Black Issue”, Vogue Italia, July 2008, by Steven Meisel
Taking a break with Madonna during SEX book photoshoot
His tenure at Vogue Italia and Vogue US is legendary, along with multiple advertising campaigns that have turned this fashion Pygmalion into one of the world’s most sought-after lens men. Along with icons Horst P. Horst, Irvin Penn and Richard Avedon, to name a few, he has helped form our fashion viewpoint and launched the careers of supermodels for over 3 decades. For that, he is a DIVA WE LOVE!
Daria Strokous for Moncler Gamme Rouge – Fall 2013-Winter 2014 Campaign
“Venus In Fur” for Vogue Italia, November 2010
“All Black Issue”, Vogue Italia, July 2008
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