Tam

The Boho style inspires a royal, yet modern, collection of evening gowns. The floral and ornamental details accompanied with rigid and linear structures are reminiscent of the architecture within the National Gallery in London.

National Geographic photographer Steven McCurry.

As an illustrator I choose to not distinguish the colour of the model i use, I leave that up to the audience and often times it allows them to reflect on wearing the garment themselves. But of course, it is important to establish where inspiration is taken from.

Some photographs were shocking through its contents. Although the image, in its aesthetic principle, is captivating with contrasting tones of warm and cold, as well as by composition and space, the message brought forward was unwanted and unnecessary. The deliberate placement of the western model standing above a group of people with darker skin (and in their own land) is distasteful in my opinion. If the model had darker skin, then the imposed expression of the image could have been about the empowerment of African tribes, as is the theme of Valentino’s Spring 2016 collection. As a result, this could have created a collection that suggested women as leaders of their people, and fairly so.

However, not all of Valentino’s campaign images were negatively questionable. A selected few (including my favourite one, above) were, in my opinion, precious. For its awareness of geographic content and cultural lifestyle, the model in this shot presents that. Not seemingly as a ‘visitor’ but as someone as part of the village - which is important, and the garment speaks of her as independent, powerful yet graceful.