Creative chaos of catwalk captured
Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Claudia Schaeffer look at you from fashion photos in an exhibition exclusive to Upper Hutt.
The models are just some of the famous faces captured in Catwalk to Cover: a Front Row Seat.
More than 100 candid photographs reveal insights into the catwalk by taking the viewer not only to the front row but also backstage.
Expressions Whirinaki scored the exclusive exhibition after a friend of director Leanne Wickham saw it on display in The Fashion and Textile Museum in London and suggested it.
Wickham said her team had been brainstorming what the next topical, popular exhibition should be.
‘‘We came up with shoes and fashion,’’ she said. ‘‘Everybody loves fashion, is interested in it and can relate to it.’’
Not many Wellingtonians will ever get to sit front row at a fashion show, as that is reserved for celebrities, but Wickham said the regional drawcard would be the next best thing.
‘‘Here they can experience the buzz of a catwalk, the adrenaline of the models backstage all lined up ready to walk out, the apprehension and the exhilaration of the designers, the lights, the glamour and the pizazz as if they were sitting on the front row.’’
Highlights included moments from the artistic shows of Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, and Louis Vuitton; celebrity front row appearances from Scarlet Johansson and Sarah Jessica Parker, candid photographs of the world’s top models and a series of elegant evening dresses from Gianni Versace.
The exhibition, which opened on November 26 and runs to February 12, draws from four photographers, Kristin Sinclair, who has shot for British Elle and Elle Collections, Matthew Lever, who has also shot for Elle and Redken and L’Oreal, Philip Meech, who has photographed Prada and Miu Miu and Chris Moore who has more than 40 years experience at photographing catwalk shows.
The exhibition will also have garments from Te Papa’s collections, which have been shown on the catwalk at London and New Zealand fashion weeks, and gowns gifted to Te Papa by Versace following the success of the exhibition Gianni Versace: The Reinvention of Material in 2001, on mannequins.
The last fashion-related exhibition Expressions held was World of Wearable Art in 2013.