‘My Dior work is about exuberance and creativity and magic. It’s totally life affirming!’ Roxanne Lowit

 

In her third book, Roxanne Lowit, the celebrity and fashion photographer based in New York shares with us one of her ultimate passions: capturing the magic backstage at Dior. Since meeting Galliano in 1997, Lowit has documented the make-believe, over-the-top fantasies that have made Dior’s catwalk the hot ticket of the haute monde. With an introduction from Galliano himself, as well as a foreword from Suzy Menkes (the doyenne of fashion critics) and an interview by Simon Doonan (creative director of Barney’s New York), Lowit’s own celebrity cache is undeniable.  Yet, photography was not Lowit ‘s initial intention. Graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York with a degree in art history and textile design., she worked as a textile designer but craved more. "I paint and there were people who I wanted to sit for me but had no time, so I started taking pictures of them.” The people in question included Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and the Studio 54 denizens – pop culture royalty. However, as Menkes points out,  backstage is an inner sanctum that most designers keep closed: ‘We must not let daylight in upon the magic’, a monarchical expression, elegantly sums up the reason for this exclusivity. <img src="body1">Yet, in Lowit’s images and the accompanying text, we are able to at least imagine the beautiful commotion: Galliano telling Shalom Harlow to channel Scarlett O’Hara, ‘..and RUN!’; the glorious spectacle of his fall 99 couture catwalk "The Millenium Show" held at Versailles, with elements of the Matrix, fox-hunting and English still life paintings; and most interestingly, snaps of Galliano himself – grinning in his spacesuit at the end of the Fall 2006 couture show, posing like a boxer (complete with black eye) for fall 2001 RTW.

 

<img src="body2">At over 200 pages, Lowit’s images are fascinating in detail, and probably the closest most of us will get to the intricate details of Galliano’s couture for Dior. But beyond the artistry of his work, Lowit has managed to capture the essence of what makes Galliano’s Dior shows so spectacular: a team of superlative talents that take his creations and elevate them to the level above exquisite illusion. For those in the fashion industry, the images will be poignant reminders of the first time they witnessed the spectacle of Dior couture in the flesh. As for the rest of us, the image of the fiercely stunning Alek Wek, sadly missed on the catwalks is a fitting cover for what is a journey into absolute fantasy.

Foreword by John Galliano

Text from Suzy Menkes, Valerie Steele

Interview by Simon Doonan

Hardcover

Te Neues Publishing

ISBN: 978-3832793463

All images courtesy of teNeues Publishing Group.