Carmen Kass

[LetThemEatCake]

Now we must wait through summer into autumn for the magazine...here's two images thus far.

'Haute Couture Harlequin from Hell' were the first words that leapt to my mind upon seeing the countenance of Carmen Kass in Panos Yiapanis' first hardcore concoction for our Clown shoot. Other than a few additions from Panos' dedicated army of crafty helpers, she's in head-to-toe A/W 2009 Alexander McQueen with a sacque-back opera coat, fierce-shouldered jacket and frilled organza blouse all smothered in eye-popping monochroime houndstooth. Ditto the lacquer-soled seven-inch platforms, which Panos has playfully adorned with blood-red pom-poms. Elsewhere, Panos' handiwork is evident in some serious heavy metal leather leggings (studded with a good kilo of hardware) and a houndstooth muzzle strapping Kass' features like Leatherface. Ironically, the strapping, wrapping and cinching of this unique getup is not dissimilar to the archly preened and poised straight-lacing of postwar couture - remember the handspan waspies of Dior's New Look or those painfully taut ribbons at the back of Mainbocher's iconic corset? Carmen is naturally forced into unnatural modes of modelling, and thus her poses have all the glamour of old-school Irving Penn. That's our first look and initial opinions, at least - the interesting thing will be to see how that translates to Nick Knight's final images in AnOther Magazine this autumn.

showstudio.com

 

[LetThemEatCake]

With our first outfit in the bag - and daylight fast diminishing -Panos, Hannah, Marian and Sam are putting the final touches to Carmen Kass' second look of our two-day Clown shoot. Despite our project title, Nick Knight's glossy 8x10 polaroids above testify that the shoot's aesthetic is veering far, far away from the accepted and understood realms of circus ring and fairground performance - not that we really expected light and carefree joviality, given Panos' visual references and choice of designer togs. Accordingly, the final looks have more in common with mournful French Pierrots, Stephen King's 'It' and the nightmarish Siats of Ute tribe mythology than the child-pleasing ilk of Bozo, Coco or even Krusty. And with night closing in, it can only get creepier.

showstudio.com

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Nick Knight, Panos Yiapanis, Carmen Kass et al are reviewing the images on screen before moving on to our next look.

After a quick break (and an expresso for Carmen) we're shooting more of that second sensational Louis Vuitton ensemble before the light dies

With Carmen Kass' face contorted by transparent plastic tape to resemble a Royston Vasey resident and Sam McKnight's teased beehive towering hevenwards, we're off on outfit number two. This time. Kass is an explosion of riotous colour, clad in a draped tunic-dress and bejewelled leggings by Louis Vuitton, velvet shorts by Prada and a beaded top by Gucci. Panos again fashions the trademark final touches himself - in this instance, a bead-encrusted harness and sparkling shoes fit for a Maharaja.

showstudio.com & twitter.com

 

[jiaqi]

not sure how to feel about this: on the one hand, i don't want to see carmen's face disfigured beyond recognition; on the other, carmen partaking in a very boldly creative project excites me endlessly...umm, i guess i will be happy

 

[LetThemEatCake]

The first entry from showstudio.com's blog this morning

Following a morning (and a day!) of heavy preparation in SHOWstudio's Bruton Place studio space, our first in-house live shoot with Carmen Kass is now broadcasting! Nick Knight is shooting Kass in a somewhat unusual guise - as the project title betrays, today's shoot for AnOther Magazine is inspired by clowns, and accordingly Kass is caked in pancake by Hannah Murray, with locks teased by Sam McKnight and dressed to character by stylist Panos Yiapanis. But rather than any direct or recognisable reference to this circus tradition, Yiapanis is pushing this shoot into the territory of the bizarre and grotesque, Kass' features contorted with sutures of string and fabric, and her body swathed in the most extreme and uncompromising fashions from the Autumn/Winter runways, along with some special creations fashioned by Yiapanis himself to highlight the editorial's aesthetic theme. Up-to-the-minute information will be coming courtesy of our (frankly rather cultish) Twitter feed and I will be blogging live with the trusty SHOWstudio picture phone to capture all the action as it develops.

and the most recent Twitter update:

We still working on our final look, although the night has fallen so the plans behind this particular shot remain something of a mystery...

showstudio.com

 

[thiago:)]

This photoshoot seems promising.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

We've removed the bead-encrusted Gucci top and are re-shooting those Lacroix-alike jewelled paisley Vuitton leggings and tunic.

"More Demonic!" is an instruction rarely used on a fashion shoot (well, the shoots I've been on) but those are the words Nick just uttered!

twitter.com

 

[LetThemEatCake]

We've just completed our final shot of the day on the cold dark streets of Bruton Place - but Carmen seems to have taken Nick's instructions of 'More demonic!' and 'A bit more mad in the face!' to heart - or rather, let them go to her head! That is Carmen you can hear laughing hysterically at the end of this short clip - apologies for the somewhat atmospheric lighting, but I'm sure you'll agree, in this get-up she isn't someone you'd want to meet down a dark alleyway! Our live stream has finished for the evening, but we will be broadcasting all the shoot action live from 12:00 Noon GMT tomorrow. Sleep tight!

Go to http://www.showstudio.com/project/clown/ for the short video clip.

 

[mikel]

The shoot looks very interesting! I can't wait to see the finished result.

 

[jiaqi]

i didn't hear that hysterical laugh

i hope they will take segments of the live stream and make them into another video of the shooting

 

[LetThemEatCake]

i didn't hear that hysterical laugh

i hope they will take segments of the live stream and make them into another video of the shooting

I know, I was looking forward to hearing it too.

I'm sure they'll do something cool as far as a video montage with all this footage. I hope.

 

[ponytrot]

WOW! This is so avant-garde cazy! Carmen is truly a legend.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Day 2 of Carmen's Clown Shoot

2 of our CLOWN shoot! Carmen's in make-up and Nick's just arrived so we've switched on the live stream early

Carmen's 1st look of the day: 3 Dolce & Gabbana dresses, a customised bra, leggings and shoes courtesy of stylist Panos.

The team are considering the first shots whilst hair supremo Sam McKnight makes adjustments to Carmen's hair.

aha, the hair change was to make way for a mask...

An incredibly patient Carmen Kass is still undergoing a fantastical Clown transformation.

Fed and watered, the team are shooting the next look: dress, cardigan, bloomers and waders by Prada, bra & leggings customised by stylist.

On to look 2: sweater-dress, devore tunic and those much-admired tan waders from Prada, all other styling accoutrements provided by Panos

Panos' assistant John just revealed that his team spent 30+ hours attaching tiny crystals to a pair of customised boots for the shoot!

Panos is wrapping and strapping Carmen's face with a different fabric mask for our next shot

Carmen goes wild with 2 cans of hairspray!

Panos continues the layering theme with a head-to-toe Comme des Garçons look - dress layered with flesh coloured tulle and a 'blanket' coat.

The team are back at our Bruton Place studio ready for another day of shooting for Nick and Panos' clown-themed story for the upcoming issueof AnOther Magazine. Model Carmen Kass already being prepped in hair and make-up, Panos and his team are busy working on items for today's looks, there's a constant flurry of garment bags being delivered via courier and Nick's just arrived so we thought we'd turn the LIVE STREAM on early. Today is a SHOWstudio first: this is Nick's inaugural shoot in our upstairs studio space, and as it's a weekday, we've got a full-house with the rest of the team downstairs attempting to go about their day-to-day duties. As well as a constant live stream trained on the heart of the action, Alex Fury and I will be multi-tasking to the best of abilities, providing regular blogs and regulat Twitter updates throughout.

Twitter.com & showstudio.com

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Carmen Kass takes to the stage in Panos Yiapanis' second look of the day: a devoré velvet tunic, cardigan, bloomers and those love-or-hate thigh-high tan waders from the A/W 2009 Prada collection. This high-fashion ensemble is however subverted into something far more unsettling, and thoroughly in keeping with our Clown theme, with the addition of items specially crafted to Panos' exacting specifications. In this instance, hand-beaded leggings and bra-like harness and a sinister 'Hannibal the Cannibal'-style face fetter. And check out Sam McKnight's truly terrifying hairdo!

showstudio.com

 

[Zann]

the live feed is so exciting to watch. Carmen moves with ease. I love it

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Here is one of the leitmotifs of the photographer's trade: the polaroid wall, in this case covered in glossy eight-by-ten images of Carmen Kass in this morning's outlandish array of Dolce and Gabanna and Prada pieces mixed in with Panos' inimitable array of customised garments. Nick Knight's images are shaping up to blur the line between figurative and abstract - quite literally in many cases, as the sections of the photographs appears fuzzed and clouded, while other aspects register crystal-clear. The mirror-embroidery detail on one of those Dolce and Gabbana gowns, for example, runs the gamut between abstract polkadot to images so finely-focussed you can see each stitch. Carmen herself, of course, has been somewhat abstracted already - to the right of this image, you can see her behind Panos, complete (and completely unrecognisable) with Hannah Murray's circus whiteface and the chicest of frightwigs by Sam McKnight.

showstudio.com

 

[jiaqi]

this ed seems big!

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Definitely an extensive ed I am hoping for...this will be worth the indulgence spent on the magazine.

Latest Twitter updates (I want more pics because I am on a pc that only lets me HEAR the shoot, not see it , so I want to see new pics!!)

I keep hearing Carmen cough.

The 4th look of the day? She's in a Louis Vuitton dress and matching leggings complimented by Panos' customised arm-warmers and shoes.

The team are re-shooting some of yesterday's looks - she's back in that that striking houndstooth McQueen blouse, jumpsuit and coat.

twitter.com

 

[Laetitia]

I'm so exciting about this shoot...I can't wait to see the pictures.

 

[jiaqi]

you actually sat through the day listening to the live stream? you are a model fan, LetThemEatCake. yesterday i tried for about twenty minutes but there wasn't much action so i stopped