Out of Print

>> Hah!  As soon as I say "More Posts" I take a whirlwind trip to Hong Kong for a special project (keeping you in suspense…) and immediately drop the posting.  Fear not as it is a Friday afterall… and yes, juicy posts on their way…

I've been meaning to post this since the exhibition went live a few days ago.  David James isn't a name you'll immediately recognise but he has been the art direction force behind Prada's isual communication for nearly 14 years now.  Working with the photographers, he has brought to life many an ad concept that have invariable been stuck in my brain with more longevity than any other brand.  This isn't just down to Prada's collections but I realise now…actually just the visual realisation.  He's also creative director of AnOther and AnOther Man magazines so you might also know his layout, typography and art direction work there… 

James' work from 1988-2010, tracking his early record label work to his ad campaigns for Prada, Dior, McQ etc as well as AnOther are all in an online exhibition Out of Print which is up until mid-May.  It's a good 20-30 minutes of scrolling if you read all the little explanations of the idea concept too and quite a refreshing respite from quickfire clicking… 

"Prada took a huge risk hiring us, but they had vision and believed in what we were doing."

Prada S/S 97
"There's no digital manipulation in these images. Everything you see was done in-camera."
Photographer: Glen Luchford, Stylist: Alex White

Prada Menswear S/S 99
"(The portacabins) are very modern but impersonal, like a prison or office. The character we created for the campaign was very nervous and anxious."
Photographer: Norbert Schoerner, Stylist: David Bradshaw

 
Prada S/S 00
"We came up with the idea of making the campaign look like a bourgeois television drama but it ended up looking a bit more like a stage play. The clothes were partly inspired by Lady Diana's look in the 80s. This gave us a character we could build a new narrative around. The notion of dysfunctional relationships was a good starting point."
Photographer: Robert Wyatt, Stylist: Lucy Ewing

Prada S/S 01
"We wanted to appear spontaneous and arbitrary, but the models and props were actually painstakingly arranged, in a very static way. That's why it looks like a frozen world. It took us four weeks to shoot! It was one of the last of the big production campaigns, being shot just before 9/11. After that, photo shoots were dramatically scaled back because of the recession."
Photographer: Cedric Buchet, Stylist: Alister Mackie

Prada A/W 02
"The pictures reference female icons from the history of fashion, film, art and literature."
Photographer: Steven Meisel, Stylist: Lori Goldstein

Prada A/W 03
"It's definitely a return to narrative. Each spread features an interior and exterior image. The juxtaposition creates a link between the pictures, but it's left up to the viewer to decipher what that is."
Photographer: Steven Meisel, Stylist: Fabio Zambernardi/David Bradshaw

Prada S/S 05
"I found a book on exotic birds that became the inspiration for the campaign. The birds were all photographed in a studio, in a way that made them seem almost human, and as if they were posing for the camera."
Photographer: Steven Meisel, Stylist: Fabio Zambernardi/David Bradshaw

Prada A/W 07
"The campaign was actually inspired by the catwalk show. The contrast between the fabrics, colour combinations and the show environment itself was very inspiring."
Photographer: Steven Meisel, Stylist: Fabio Zambernardi

Prada S/S 09
"The reference for this campaign was Greek and Roman sculptural reliefs, the kind you find on pediments in Roman architecture."
Photographer: Steven Meisel, Stylist: Fabio Zambernardi