Vogue Hommes International Fall/Winter 08.09 : Hugh Dancy by Mario Testino

[*ana*]

finally, the ed.

ACTION! Mario Sorrenti’s vividly violent taken on menswear editorial choses the stuntman as it’s improbable muse. With all the high flying, action they subject their bodies to it’s rare for any of the attention focused on stuntmen to extend past their fearless, thrill seeking nature. The majority of the sartorial action is given to their headlining counterparts whose matinee idol status (an unmarred good looks) allows them to garner the fashion credit. With all the quick cutting and tricks of light one might not even notice the covert and often injurious work stuntmen put in but therein lies the game.

Taking the hardest working men in show business and some of the most rough and tumble clothing available, Sorrenti (with the help of Emmanuelle Alt’s styling artistry) creates a kinetic pictorial of bodies plunging through plate glass, lunging the distance between buildings and being unceremoniously set aflame. Though the shock value is dulled by how routine cinema has made such events seem, there is something amusingly ironic about the whole affair. The pages of Vogue Hommes International are chock full of pretty boy actors who sit out such dauntingly deadly tasks - to see coverboy Hugh Dancy’s immaculately manicured image on one page and a charred figure in Margiela boots on the next creates an intriguing juxtaposition. One can’t help but think that Sorrenti might be commenting on more than just the clothes.

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