so
i came across these photo set the other day when i was doing some researching on alice in wonderland - theme for a small charity fashion show organized by this two amazing young people (Memoir Connect) in perth.
anyway. i was so stunned and amazed.
can't think of any other words.
these photos were taken almost ten years ago for issue December 2003 Vogue US magazine.
annie leibovitz had taken reference from the infamous alice of wonderland;
she then approached this idea into surrealism visually and quite straightforwardly but yet remarkable.
these images were captured beautifully with appropriate settings and props, and what made it more interesting was bringing the designers into characters play!
imagine !
model Natalia Vodianova portrayed Alice, wearing distinctive outfits in each shoots. and this interesting storyline had alice stumbling upon the wonderland characters played by the fashion designers who designed the outfits.
and, i have adapted some part of the classic story itself which should help clarify the images better =)
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| Alice |
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| Curioser and Curioser : Alice met the author Lewis Carroll |
Alice wearing Rochas iridescent flower-ruffle dress by Olivier Theyskens; in the guise of Lewis Carroll.
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| The White Rabbit |
Alice is sitting on the riverbank, feeling bored when she notices a talking White Rabbit with a pocket watch running past.
she follows it into a rabbit hole. and down she falls into the never ending passage.
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| Down The Rabbit Hole : Alice and the White Rabbit |
Alice wearing Gauche sky blue silk satin dress by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent; the designer as the White Rabbit.
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| Alice finds the little bottle |
she finds herself sitting around a hall with many locked doors to small for her to get through.
she then discovers a little bottle on a table labelled 'DRINK ME'.
without hesitation she drinks it and down she shrinks. now she becomes too small to reach for the key which she has left on the table.
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| Alice becomes too big ! |
she saw a cake with 'EAT ME' written. she eats it and the cake cause her to grow enormously that she hits the ceiling.
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| Drink Me ! : Alice turns enormously huge |
Alice wearing organza minidress by Helmut Lang; the designer is spotted as the portrait on the wall.
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| Alice and the caterpillar |
Alice comes across a large mushroom with a caterpillar, smoking a hookah sitting on it.
the caterpillar tells Alice that one side of the mushroom will make her taller and the other side will make her shorter before crawling away.
Alice breaks some of the mushroom and keeps it.
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| Advice from a Caterpillar : Alice engages in a conversation with the Caterpillar |
Alice wearing ruffled chiffon minidress by Marc Jacobs; portraying the caterpillar.
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| Alice in the kitchen |
Alice stumbles upon a house and went inside.
in the kitchen, she meets the Duchess nursing her baby and a grinning cat.
the Duchess's Cook is making a soup that has too much pepper, which causes Alice, the Duchess, and her baby to sneeze.
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| Alice hugging a baby that turns into a pig |
the duchess later hands her baby to Alice but the baby turns into a pig suddenly.
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| Pig and Pepper : Alice is nursing the baby |
Alice is wearing Chanel Haute Couture embroidered satin jacket with draped satin skirt and cream leather boot pants; and Karl Lagerfeld as Pepper.
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| the Cheshire Cat |
Alice notices the Cheshire cat siting on a tree and ask it where should she go. The cat tells her the March Hare and the Mad Hatter live nearby and then disappears suddenly.
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| The Cheshire Cat : Alice wonders which way she should go and ask the cat |
Alice wearing Gaultier Paris silk-jersey draped dress; with Jean Paul Gaultier as the Cheshire Cat
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| A Mad Tea-Party |
Alice reaches the house of Hare and saw a big table setting out under a tree.
the March Hare and the Mad Hatter are having tea. there is a Dormouse sitting between them; asleep.
The Hare and Hatter tell her that there is no room for her but Alice brings herself to sea anyway.
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| A Mad Tea-Party : Alice becomes a guest in the tea party |
Alice wearing dress with painted and sculpted mint dickey over lace top and frilled lame skirt by Christian Lacroix Haute Couture; Stephen Jones as the Mad Hatter and Christian Lacroix as the March Hare.
Alice leaves the tea party and enter a garden. she saw three living playing cards painting the white roses red.
she then meets the King and Queen of Hearts.
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| The Queen's Croquet-Ground |
she is invited by the Queen to play the croquet.
Alice is surprised by the croquet-ground; the balls are live hedgehogs, the mallets live flamingos, and the soldiers make the arches.
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| The Queen's Croquet Ground : the Queen turned crimson with fury, screamed `Off with her head! Off--' |
Alice wearing Dior Haute Couture hand-painted polka dots dress; with John Galliano as the Queen of Hearts and Alexis Roche as the King.
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| The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle |
the Queen of Hearts introduces Alice to the Gryphon, who takes her to the Mock Turtle.
the Mock Turtle is very sad.
Alice asks what his sorrow is, but the Gryphon answers that he has none.
so the Mock Turtle starts telling his history.
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| The Mock Turtle's Story : The Mock tells Alice his story with sobs and sighs |
Alice wearing Atelier Versace layered silk tulle and chiffon organza dress lined in lace; with Donatella Versace as the Gryphon and Rupert Everett as the Mock Turtle.
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| Queens of Hearts shouting at Alice |
Alice sees the King and Queen of Hearts sitting on their throne,with a great crowd surrounding them.
it is a trial to find out who steals the Queen's tarts.
Alice is surprised that she is being called as the third witness.
((the following two shots were inspired from the sequel of Alice in Wonderland - Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there))
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| Alice sitting on the great arm chair |
Alice is at home, sitting on a chair talking to herself and her black kitten named Kitty.
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| Alice trying to imagine getting through the glass |
Alice starts telling Kitty about the other side of the looking-glass where everything is the same; but only backwards.
she wonders how it will be to live there and imagines the glass so soft that she can get through.
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| Through the Looking Glass : Alice climbs through the glass into the shadow world |
Alice wearing Balenciaga crystal pleated chiffon dress and grey ankle boots; and Nicolas Ghesquiere as the black kitty.
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| Tweedledum and Tweedledee |
she meets the fat twin brothers, Tweedledum and Tweedledee from the famous nursery rhyme.
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| Tweedledum and Tweedledee : Alice comes upon the fat twin brothers |
Alice wearing Viktor and Rolf multi-layered silk dress; the designer as the twin brothers.
hope you find this interesting and fun !
( images courtesy from Vogue ;
original illustrations and storyline adapted from Alice in Wonderland )
This is a very cuorious photoshoot. It's very interesting to see the faces of fashion from a historic perspective: those who are gone, those who are still there, those who have changed, those who have stayed the same... Very valuable piece of work :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! ^^