Saskia de Brauw. An uncommon name for an uncommon beauty with an equally uncommon modelling path. After starting early in the fashion world, de Brauw decided to leave her modelling career behind at age 16 to devote herself to the study of art. Returning to the business at 29, she quickly became one of the most sought-after models: in 2011, she scored two Vogue covers in the same month, one for Carine Roitfeld's final Vogue Paris and the iconic Vogue Italia. She's also used this time wisely to garner a string of resounding collaborations with high-fashion houses under her belt.
This spring/summer season is no different, as she stars in not one, not two, but three different advertising campaigns. And if that's not reason enough for awe, what if I told you that one of these three is, thanks to her unconventional looks, being the image of Hedi Slimane's first SLP menswear collection? Of course, this is not the first time that Saskia is pushing boundaries, since she's already walked the runway for the Givenchy menswear collection of Spring/ Summer 2012. And it's also not that much of a surprise coming from Slimane, the designer being known for his androgynous approach to fashion, as well as for saying that his "perceptions of genders ended up slightly out of focus from an early age". Please believe me - no one can top this audacious duo.
This spring/summer season is no different, as she stars in not one, not two, but three different advertising campaigns. And if that's not reason enough for awe, what if I told you that one of these three is, thanks to her unconventional looks, being the image of Hedi Slimane's first SLP menswear collection? Of course, this is not the first time that Saskia is pushing boundaries, since she's already walked the runway for the Givenchy menswear collection of Spring/ Summer 2012. And it's also not that much of a surprise coming from Slimane, the designer being known for his androgynous approach to fashion, as well as for saying that his "perceptions of genders ended up slightly out of focus from an early age". Please believe me - no one can top this audacious duo.
Therefore, first up, obviously, is Saskia for SLP, shot by Hedi Slimane (yes, again. You didn't think he'd do it only for the ladies, did you?). The black and white images follow the same line of the Saint Laurent women's lookbook, featuring Slimane's signature rocker fixation with slim silhouettes and razor sharp tailoring, subverted through de Brauw's contemporary and androgynous look. The campaign again feels dark and moody in a subtle way. And makes me think that I should maybe try casting an eye on menswear collections more often.
Second - Saskia incarnates the minimalist Giorgio Armani look of the season in front of the lens of Mert & Marcus. Sleek, clean, studio-shot, the images impart a no-nonsense view of the clothes. Clothes which are beautiful in themselves, with beautiful, striking colours, elegant cuts and sleek execution.
Last, but not least (never least), there's Prada. The campaign features a mouth-watering cast of eleven different and iconic (all in their own way) models, from the more experienced Saskia de Brauw, Eva Herzigova and Amber Valletta, to Sung Hee, Sasha Pivovarova and Irina Kravchenko. The images themselves are again quite minimal, with a moody and simple grey background which only better showcases the delicate new aesthetic of the collection (or, as Prada calls it, its "new take on modern femininity"). The campaign is shot by acclaimed photographer Steven Meisel.
I like the Giorgio Armani campaign the best, but the Saint Laurent one is quite nice too, very moody. But the Prada campaign seems really simple, nothing impressive there.
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