#Ellen von unwerth prints full

Whereas the industry in the 1980s was, she says, obsessed with вЂњperfectionist high glamourвЂќ, the 1990s ushered in an age of вЂњfearless creativityвЂќ. As Schiffer points out, fashion photography is вЂњan intricate jigsaw of experts from all fieldsвЂќ: art directors, stylists, hair and make-up artists, editors вЂ“ and, of course, the вЂњsuperstarвЂќ photographers, among them Richard Avedon and the colour-blind Helmut Newton, some of whom became, she says, her вЂњmentorsвЂќ. Really, though, Captivate! is less a portrait of one person than of an entire art form.

#Ellen von unwerth prints full

вЂњI entered his studio on the Rue Cambon full of nerves,вЂќ she recalls, вЂњbut within hours I was being fitted for his new collection.вЂќ Lagerfeld, who died in 2019, was, she explains, always вЂњincisiveвЂќ вЂ“ and, after their meeting, he made Schiffer the face of Chanel. Impressed by the German teenagerвЂ™s first cover for British Vogue, shot by Herb Ritts in 1989, Lagerfeld invited her to see him in Paris. Yet it was the controversial German designer Karl Lagerfeld who, she says, вЂњcame into my life and changed it foreverвЂќ. вЂњAnd thatвЂ™s your perfect shoot, where the chemistry between photographer and model happens.вЂќ вЂњIt often just felt like two friends mucking around,вЂќ Schiffer tells me now. Two years later, Schiffer was modelling for the black-and-white Guess Jeans campaign that would make her famous: feeling at ease with Von Unwerth, who shot it in Italy, she danced about in a black lace corset and stonewashed denim, part carefree cowgirl, part Brigitte Bardot. Any diffidence, though, soon disappeared. Crimped blonde hair covers one of her eyes, suggesting, perhaps, her introverted disposition. Here we see SchifferвЂ™s first test shot as a schoolgirl posing in a baggy baseball jacket. Part of the volumeвЂ™s fascination is, simply, the insight it provides into an extraordinary life. An accompanying book, featuring 150 photographs, including backstage snaps from SchifferвЂ™s personal archive, is about to be published here. Invited by the director of DГјsseldorfвЂ™s Kunstpalast museum to curate Captivate!, a show of fashion photography from the 1990s, she spent lockdown sifting through thousands of digital images, as well as her own вЂњlibraryвЂќ of fashion magazines and вЂњshoeboxes of memorabiliaвЂќ. Recently, Schiffer вЂ“ who lives in Suffolk with her husband, English film director Matthew Vaughn, and their three children вЂ“ has been thinking a lot about those early days. By the following decade, she had established herself, alongside Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, among the вЂњBig SixвЂќ supermodels who revolutionised the fashion industry. Within weeks, she was living in the French capital, hanging around with her new friend, the up-and-coming German photographer Ellen von Unwerth вЂ“ вЂњand the rest,вЂќ Schiffer says, вЂњis historyвЂќ. But the man, who worked for a French modelling agency, was insistent вЂ“ and, a few days later, accompanied by her mother, Schiffer found herself in Paris. вЂњI thought it was a joke,вЂќ recalls Schiffer, now 51, who at the time was still self-conscious about her height (5ft 11in). In 1987, a shy 17-year-old called Claudia Schiffer was at CheckerвЂ™s nightclub in DГјsseldorf, when a stranger approached her and asked if she wanted to be a model.