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While guests were taking in the graffitied mountain that served as the setting for Balenciaga's fall 2018 show, little did they suspect that an exclusive project was taking shape behind the scenes.
Fashion photographers PierreAnge Carlotti and Johnny Dufort were invited by the brand to shoot a photo series capturing the making of the show. The series will be published in a book by Rizzoli, launching on Nov. 7 in the brand's European stores and online.
Named “Balenciaga Winter
18,” the tome starts with fittings at Balenciaga headquarters in Paris, followed by a series of vibrant snapshots taken backstage.
Carlotti and Dufort were the only photographers to have been granted access by Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia. The pair worked together photographing the looks against the show backdrop once the runway was cleared.
In order to capture the vibrancy of show, two neon tones were added to the usual CMYK color model used for printed material. Inside the graffiti-covered book, Gvasalia's signature layered silhouettes are set against flashy backdrops alongside candid snaps of models backstage.
The result, a 304-page coffee-table book, is Gvasalia's first printed project at Balenciaga — but certainly not his last.
“I realized that every show I do from now on for Balenciaga is cinematographic in terms of concept and setup, and each of them I'd like to accompany with some memorabilia, something that actually puts you into that show and the process behind it,” he said in a statement. “A show is an experience and this book is a tool for remembering it.”
— FLEUR BURLET