Versace, Avedon, and the supermodels

Long before social media, we used to stare at album covers, or the photo spreads in magazines. The eighties brought the emergence of the super model, and our after-school afternoons and weekends were often spent rifling through fashion pages and identifying favorite looks and outfits.

I fell in love with one ad in particular. It was GIANNI VERSACE. The 1983 Spring Summer catalog photographed by Richard Avedon was  forever burned into my psyche. The art direction was impeccable.  Models (Janice, Iman) were strategically positioned and perched atop thick blocks of wood, creating a striking composition that filled me with joy. 

The models were gorgeous. The clothes were gorgeous.  But it was the WOOD that spoke to me and made it all come to life. How bold! This was wood without decoration, without color, or finish, or carving,  It was wood that was unapologetically bare and …perfect.  That was a language I connected to immediately. 

I believe that was the beginning of my passion for purity of material.