How Street Style Changed the Frontier of Fashion Photography
Photo: Jack Riccobono
A few weeks ago, Marie Claire editor Taylor Tomasi
Hill ran into an old friend outside a fashion show in Lincoln Center.
They both stopped to catch up, but were interrupted by a man who tapped
the friend on the arm. “Excuse me,” he said, “but do you mind stepping
aside for a moment while I take her picture?” He was pointing to Tomasi
Hill. Nonplussed, the friend backed away, and a swarm of photographers
quickly closed in.
Tomasi Hill is a member of a new, elite class of fashion celebrities
whose pictures (and shoes and bags and outfits) are fanatically snapped
outside of fashion shows and events by street style photographers.
Images of these fashion insiders — models, stylists, buyers, and editors
— going about their glamorous lives are now so sought after that
they’ve created an entirely new category of fashion photography. These
photographs, seemingly casual and snapped on the fly, now appear
regularly on retail websites, blogs, and in ad campaigns and print
magazines to demonstrate how “normal” people incorporate certain looks
into their everyday outfits. What was formerly the realm of
professional, meticulously staged fashion shoots has had to make way for
a new medium of informal, more natural-looking images of real people
going about their real business — and looking great while they do it.
Street
style photography wasn’t always this way. When it first began —
originally with Bill Cunningham’s “On the Street” section in the New
York Times, and later with bloggers like The Sartorialist’s
Scott Schumann — it was hailed as a democratized platform where anyone
with an original look, regardless of age, weight, or income, could be
celebrated for dressing themselves with creativity and panache. It was
grassroots fashion, devoid of perfectly coiffed models, brand status,
and editorial contrivances. You could dress yourself up in the morning
and dream of having someone on the street ask to take your picture. Many
of these street style photographers still exist, particularly in
far-flung places like Helsinki or Mexico City, where the fashion
industry isn’t quite so pronounced as it is in Paris or New York. Most
of these local photographers don’t support themselves with their
efforts, and see it as a creative outlet rather than a commercial
pursuit.
But meanwhile, a select few street style photographers have gained
traction in fashion’s inner fold, and their subjects have also shifted
from pedestrians to street style celebrities like Tomasi Hill, Elle’s Kate Lanphear, Japanese Vogue’s
Anna Dello Russo, and other people who dress themselves meticulously
but also have ready access to gorgeous clothes. What has emerged is
almost like a partnership between the street style photographers and
their subjects; while these fashion-loving subjects have always dressed
themselves well, their newfound celebrity gives them added caché. They
attend fashion events, well aware that they’ll be photographed, some
even getting their hair and makeup done beforehand and borrowing new
outfits from designer labels, which sets them even further apart from
the nicely dressed Jane Doe on the sidewalk. Their efforts in turn
benefit the photographers because the more chic-looking and popular
their subjects become, the more money they’ll be able to command should a
magazine, website, or retailer want to use their images.
One could argue that “original style” isn’t what attracts
photographers anymore; rather, it has evolved into street style stars
wearing different versions of their signature looks, perpetuating their
own fame. Meanwhile, those hoping to break into the upper echelons of
fashion celebrity do their utmost to copy them. A recent opinion piece
by GQ’s Will Welch lamented the blatant peacocking that goes on
at fashion shows nowadays, with people dressing up in over-the-top
outfits in hopes that they’ll become the photographers’ next darling.
It’s true that a certain part of it feels unnatural — an awkward,
nonchalant dance between lurking photographers and overdressed showgoers
who amble along and hope for flashbulbs — but what really isn’t, in
fashion?
There’s much more to say about street style, which is why, starting
this week, we’re exploring the subject with a number of features (including a video that shows what life is like on the other side of the lens).
For now, click ahead to see a slideshow of street style’s current major
stars, including standbys like Giovanna Battaglia and Shala Monroque,
as well as newer faces like Yasmin Sewell and Stephanie LaCava.
Some streetstyle "stars" I've actually heard of...
and let's not forget the boys...
via nymag
