Freisel

This image is so very Freja and I love it. In fact, I love the whole editorial because all the different models' personalities seem to shine through. The overall execution is perhaps a little lacking seeing as it's supposed to be a fashion editorial. But this is one instance where I think the concept succeeds in making up for any shortcomings elsewhere.

For her part, Freja presents to us a beautifully quiet and self-reflective moment. I love the juxtaposition of this intensely private moment with the chaos of the city. If you look, you can see references to New York in the sliver of the city visible through the window and the "I Love NY" t-shirt cookie on the cake. It's a city notorious for making people feel anonymous and completely alone, even though they're surrounded by millions of people. For me, this image is poignantly emblematic of that feeling, and absolutely fitting for Freja considering that she just moved away from Denmark (and family and friends) to New York.

This pervading sense of loneliness that I read is enhanced by the wisps of smoke emanating from the extinguished candles--they're like the signifiers for a presence once there and now gone. It's a brilliant touch because they also convey the passage of time (i.e. the onslaught of age that a birthday signifies) and the fleeting, instantaneous nature of the moment (i.e. the flames that were there a moment ago are now gone). And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these the very things that people hope to capture and save through twitter? Isn't it a medium that allows us to document that very same passage of time and record those very same fleeting moments for posterity? Intentional or not, I find this one image so full of many things to analyze, and this self-referential quality is just one of them.

I also have to wonder whether this is in any way Freja's commentary on the modeling life. We've all read snippets from various interviews done by various models on how hard their lives can be with all the traveling and such. Abbey Lee just commented recently on how difficult it is to cultivate strong personal relationships when her schedule is so unpredictable. So, can models really be so lonely that they spend their birthdays like this? I doubt Freja spent her birthday alone, but I find it so intriguing that she would portray herself in this way. I don't know...maybe there doesn't have to be a reason for everything. I'm well aware that things can just be what they are for the sake of being. Maybe she just thought it would be funny and I can see the stream of humor here, especially in the "Sexy Beast" cookie.

Anyway, even though Meisel didn't take these pictures, this editorial is still very much his work. And perhaps this is why many people have a hard time with contemporary art and photography's place within. The traditional notions of the artist/creator are completely thrown out the window. In it's place we are faced with issues of authenticity, ingenuity, artistic skill and ownership. I could talk for hours about these types of issues, but I'll spare you. (For anyone who is interested, there is some fabulous writing out there about this stuff. "On Photography" by Susan Sontag, and "The Originality of the Avant Garde" by Rosalind Krauss (most notably her section on Rodin and his "Gates of Hell" sculpture) immediately come to my mind.)

But moving along, since this is truly Meisel's work, I'm still completely amazed and shocked that he included Freja. Either she has someone on her side at Vogue Italia, her agents are working overtime and good at compromising, or Meisel had a change of heart. Now I wonder if he'll work with Freja again, or if this was a one time thing? It's rather fitting though, that to end a decade's worth of work in VI, Meisel chose to include all his regular model favorites and a model that he's notoriously excluded for a better part of the decade. I think Meisel is too calculated and exacting in his work for that not to be intentional on his part. So with this in mind, and as great as it was to finally have Freja work with him, I have a feeling that "Freisel" sadly won't be a moniker we can ever use again. So we should just enjoy it while it lasts....although I would love to be proven wrong.

Image Credits: scanned by Diciassette (17) @ tFS

Hell Hath Froze Over

Freja and Meisel. Two names I'd never thought I'd see together unless followed by a phrase like "they will never work together." Well, look out your window because pigs are flying outside of it right now. Freja is in Meisel's latest editorial for the December 2009 issue of Vogue Italia. We only have a preview pic so far:

I guess I spoke to soon in my 2009 Editorial recap, because it seems like Vogue Italia decided to end the year with a shock to the system. If I held anything to be true, it was that we'd never see Freja and Meisel working together. No one really knows what happened between them at the start of Freja's career, but everyone knew that Meisel wouldn't shoot her.

Technically though, he isn't shooting her for this editorial. The models were allowed to shoot themselves and do whatever they wanted to do in conjunction with the "twitter" theme. Nevertheless, this is still very much a Meisel ed and I'm still as shocked as ever that Freja is involved in it.

I'll post more once we see the whole thing as I'm sure it will provide endless fodder for a wide variety of ruminations. My mind is already aflutter with thoughts about originality, artistic intent, and the creative process seeing as the models were the ones who actually took the pictures and not Meisel. I also can't wait to see how Freja portrays herself and whether this will be a true glimpse into her personal life and how she sees herself in relation to modeling, or if she will hide behind a facade of glamor and fashion.

Image Credits: nextmodelsblog.blogspot

The Twitterization of Fashion

I've noticed something this fashion season. Twitter is completely changing the way we consume and digest the runway shows and the way we interact with fashion week. Thanks to the numerous tweets from people front row and backstage, we are now privy to instantaneous updates on which models walk, what the hair and makeup look like, and what a collection is about. All of this just mere minutes after (sometime even before) the shows end in real time, and hours before collection pictures go up on all the big websites.

Last season I could feel the initial stirrings of this (r)evolution. A few blogs were live tweeting shows and we got some blurry pictures here and there. But this season things feel drastically different and I think we can chalk it up to the perfect confluence of a few external factors:

-The ubiquity of iPhones containing cameras capable of taking quality pictures.
-The development and introduction of twitpic.
-The onslaught of the recession that caused fashion magazines, and indeed the industry as a whole, to suffer from decreased revenue.
-The consequent realization that other avenues (like the internet) needed to be tapped for their growth potential.

All these things have contributed to what I call the twitterization of fashion.

To be honest, I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It's probably too early to tell, and things are never black and white like that anyway. What I do know is that the influx of information from twitter this season has dramatically shortened my attention span and ability to retain any pertinent knowledge about the collections. Tweets come at a fast and furious pace, and they're short since Twitter only allows 140 characters per tweet. Everything seems immediate and important, yet trivial and inconsequential at the same time. The moment you think you read about something important, another tweet comes along and erases the first one from memory.

This post comes from the realization that I haven't really looked at a lot of collections that have already shown this season. In the past, while sorting through the pictures to see if my favorite models walked, I'd get to really see the vision of a particular designer or come to appreciate a previously unknown talent. I didn't feel rushed and I also think that everyone else on tFS took the time to post good pictures and appreciate the clothes. This season is all about checking tweets and then moving on to see if tweets from the next show are up. The turnaround is just so fast paced that I think the fashion is being overlooked. I'll admit that even I'm guilty of glancing at the twitpic-ed showlist, scanning for my favorite models' names, and then only going to their thread at tFS for pictures.

Twitter isn't all bad though. Thanks to it's offshoot twitpic, we've gotten some great backstage photos of Freja, and we know when she's going to be walking a show before she actually does it. I'm sure this saves all the fans from nervous anticipation and "will she, won't she" conversations. But then again, isn't that all part of the fun?

Image Credits: twitpic.com/photos/vmagazine

Thanks JD

I've always wondered what Freja's model card at IMG looked like. Now, thanks to JD Ferguson and his blog/twitter, I know:

Most agencies have a wall of photographs displaying all their models. You can kind of get the sense of what a wall would look like from Daria's recent editorial in US Vogue:

These cards are different from the model show cards that come out prior to fashion week. Sometimes they're the cover of a magazine or just a shot from an editorial like Freja's is. I really have no idea what these cards are used for. I would venture to guess they're used as advertising to potential clients, and the wall itself is probably like an achievement wall for the agency.

I wonder how they decide what image to use? Freja's card shows great body movement, but it doesn't really show her amazing face or her versatility. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at IMG so I could get more insight into what happens behind the scenes. That's where all the juicy stuff happens anyway....

JD has been a fan/friend of Freja's since the very beginning. If you search his blog you can find mentions and pictures of Freja going all the way back to '07. Here's hoping Freja makes another appearance there soon.

Image Credits: twitpic.com/photos/jdvision, mariotestino.com

Tweeting Part II

Some more interesting info coming out of Heidi Mount's twitter.

surrounded by books. i love karls studio!!!

Freja didnt know about twitter. shame.

Perhaps she and Freja are working on something for the Chanel Haute Couture show coming up in July? Maybe they're shooting the look book, or getting fitted for their dresses. Although, I think it's still too early for the later, so the former seems like a better possibility. Exciting!

And to tell you the truth, I'm kind of glad Freja doesn't know about twitter. Well she probably does now, but that's besides the point. Can you imagine what would happen if she started twittering? That would just increase the fanaticism over her and I don't necessarily think that's a good thing. Ok yes, I'm a pretty big fan considering I have this blog. But the official site is enough for me. For some reason I like the people I admire to maintain some distance from me. I guess it keeps the allure going. Am I the only one that feels this way?

Anyway, I think I'm still ambivalent about Twitter. It's useful if the tweets that you follow come from people who hold interesting jobs. i.e. Come fashion week twitter will be great for getting the latest updates about everything going on at the shows from people actually sitting at the shows. Otherwise, I feel like it's probably just another internet fad that will eventually come to be obsolete (Hello Friendster and Myspace). I have a twitter account but that's only so I can follow all my favorite fashion related people and websites. And ok, I'll admit it, I tweeted twice. But that was only because I was super excited about Obama and Biden eating lunch across the street from my office that day. :) Otherwise, I hold no illusions about my life that would warrant me giving minute by minute updates.

I don't know, what are you're thoughts on twitter? Anyone interesting out there that I should be following? I do love me some Fake Karl.

Tweet, Tweet

Freja was spotted in New York last week, but apparently she's already moved onto Paris this week. Check out these three successive tweets from Heidi Mount posted within hours of each other:

1: just arrived in Paris and i feel like my hotel room is backwards or just not right. that makes no sense

2: i just threw two sunflower seeds in frejas mouth

3: now i missed

How cute is that!? They always seem to have a fun, laid back time together. Heidi has been updating up her twitter account for a few months now, and she alternates between tweeting about her personal life and her work. She is definitely a reliable source, so we now know that Freja is in Paris working with Heidi on something. Freja already told us she was off on a round trip to NY and Paris a few weeks ago so she's true to her word if any of you ever doubted it.

We keep on getting news of Freja traveling all over the world for work, but it's been so quiet on the editorial front lately. Hopefully all her work these last few months will translate into a plethora of material in a few months time. I can't wait!

Oh, and once again thanks goes to slow_hands over at tFS for the tip. (I swear, sometimes I think you should be writing this blog.)