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A Complete Guide to the

History of Fashion
Photography
Nowadays we take it for granted that fashion photography is an art form as
creative and varied as any other, but it wasnt always this way. Over the past
100 years the medium has worked hard to establish itself as a valid and
legitimate form of expression, so read on for a thorough history lesson in the
movements that defined a genre.
As with all great advertising, some of the most recognizable fashion
campaigns in history have become every bit as iconic as the brands they
were first designed to sell. Somehow, these great examples manage to
capture the spirit, voice and aesthetic of a designer so perfectly that they
add a whole new level of context to their brand. Whether its the model
chosen, the styling of their outfit, the set design of the shoot or the
photographer themselves, great campaigns transcend the actual clothing
and help tell a story all of their own.
But the art of a good photo editorial isnt set in stone; fashion photography,
like art, has movements defined by its leading talents and the prevailing
cultural zeitgeist. To understand them both a little better, and see how we
arrived at where we are today, weve compiled a look back at some of the
most important moments in the history of fashion photography over the past
100 years.
From humble beginnings at the start of the 20 th century, the following is trip
through the glamour, rebellion, artistry and commercialism of the past
century to discover how the art of an entire industry was defined.

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Image
via Saatchi
Gallery
1910
1934:
Edward
Steichen
and the
Cond Nast
years

To many, Edward Steichen is the founding father of modern fashion

photography. After a supposed dare by a close friend, Steichen undertook the
task of promoting fashion as fine art via the medium of photography. To do
this, he took a series of photographs of the gowns created by renowned
French fashion designer Paul Poiret, which were subsequently published in
the April 1911 issue of Art et Dcorationmagazine.
Widely considered the very first modern fashion photographs, they conveyed
the aesthetics, movement and details of the clothes as central to their
approach. His style centred heavily on the model, in typical portraiture style,
but used lighting and carefully planned studio setups to focus on the clothes
and give them a lavish and elegant look that was indicative of the time.

Image
via Sothebys

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Another crucial factor in widening the appeal of modern fashion photography

came in 1909, when the successful publisher Cond Nast purchased
American lifestyle magazine Vogue. In doing so, he created the worlds
premier fashion publication one that gave photographers such as
Steichen, Cecil Beaton and Horst P. Horst a platform to showcase their work
to a huge new audience. In 1913 he followed that up with the launch
of Vanity
Fair, and together the two titles spent decades
fighting Harpers Bazaar to become the top fashion magazine in America.
What Steichen and Vogue gave to modern photography were the blueprints
for almost all fashion advertising that was to come in the years after.
Steichen formed his own unique visual vocabulary throughout the 20s and
30s, distilling classic renaissance imagery with cubism and futurism to
create something that was fresh and exciting. His use of models, lighting and
experimental studio techniques were completely revolutionary and, for many
years, his contemporaries had no other choice but to follow his path. His
importance cannot be exaggerated; Steichen changed the face of fashion
photography, and his innovations are still being used to this day.

Image
via TheRedLi
st
1934
1944: The
revival of
Harpers
Bazaar and
The Design Laboratory

For many years, Harpers Bazaar lacked the edge it needed to compete
with the Cond Nast publications. The magazines fortunes changed in 1934,
however, with the appointment of Russian photographer Alexey Brodovitch
to the role of artistic director. With him in place, Harpers Bazaar started
down a new path that would change the landscape of fashion photography
forever. He implemented radical layout concepts, used typography in bold

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new ways and had a vivid approach to imagery. It was his mix of elegance
and
innovation
that
transformed
the
fortunes
of Harpers
Bazaar, securing its long-term future.

Image
via Iconofgraphi
cs

However,
Brodovitchs
influence was more resonant than simply the pages of the magazine. In 1933
he started a course at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art
called the Design Laboratory, where he taught the full spectrum of modern
graphic design principles. In attendance were young photographers such as
Irving Penn, Eve Arnold and Richard Avedon. It would be these students that
would go on to shape fashion photography on an almost continual basis for
decades to come, all helping extend Brodovitchs legacy long into the future.

Image
via Enticing
the Light

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1944 1960: Avedon and The Great Outdoors

One of Brodovitchs early students at the Design Laboratory was Richard
Avedon, who started his career in 1944 as an advertising photographer.
Avedon quickly found a fan in Brodovitch, who spotted his talent and sent
him to Paris in 1946 to cover the latest collections from the premier fashion
houses. Young and full of energy, the images Avedon captured for Harpers
Bazaar represented a new direction for fashion photography.
Avedons style was all about one thing: movement. He replaced the static,
lifeless poses of the Steichen era with photographs full of verve and vitality.
He shunned the studio, preferring to work outdoors or on location. Capturing
lively street scenes and bustling parties, his models were photographed in
the moment, showcasing their natural femininity; the flowing clothes seemed
somehow to be an elegant extension of their own bodies.

Image via Pleasure

Photoroom

This set a new course for fashion photography and, throughout the 50s,
Avedons style was much imitated. Motion and spontaneity were hallmarks of
this new direction. He inspired photographers such as Henry Clarke to use
the citys streets as a backdrop for his images. In the great outdoors, a new
sense of life could be breathed into photographs, with the beauty of the
models and the clothes they wore directly mirrored in the dynamism of the
overall composition.

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Image via Classicdriver

1960 1970: The divide

Avedons move to shoot his models in the moment was a real turning point
for fashion photography. Those such as David Bailey used this style
extensively to capture the new and exciting times of swinging London in the
60s. Baileys photography for British Vogue built on Avedons ideas, but
gave them an even more youthful feel, while his carefree approach linked
model, setting and lifestyle like never before. Prolific photographers of the
present day, like Mario Testino, owe a lot to work like this.

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Image
via Vogue
But there were
some, such as fellow Brodovitch student Irving Penn, who continued to stick
to the traditions of the studio. His famous cover for the April 1950 edition
of Vogue featured model Jean Patchett in contrasting black and white. With
tone and angle set in opposition, the result is dramatic, yet tranquil and this
image in particular sums up his approach to fashion photography. Although
his style was starting to fall out of favour during the 60s, Penn changed the
face of fashion photography in subtle but far-reaching ways for many years
to come.

Image
via FashionLifestyle.bg
1970
1980:
Return to
the studio
and the rise
of sexual
controversy

Capturing movement outside the confines of the studio had been the modus
operandi of many photographers throughout the 50s and 60s. But, by the

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start of the 70s, a resurgence in studio work was well underway. Taking cues
from photographers such as Steichen, Beaton and Penn, this new movement
was defined by its use of female nudity, overt sexuality and surrealism.
Once again, Richard Avedon was riding the crest of this new wave. Having
signed a deal to move from Harpers Bazaar to Vogue in 1966, he
decided to return to the studio for much of his fashion photography work.
Referencing the glamour and freedom of the previous two decades, his
shoots for Versace throughout the 70s and 80s were inventive and exciting.
His trademark use of movement was still present, as was his celebration of
vitality and confident female sexuality.

Image
via Somerset
House

Somewhat contrasting Avedon there was Guy Bourdin, a Parisian who relied
on sexual imagery to tell a different story. While his critics say that Bourdin
reduced the female body to its most erotic parts, often promoting violent and
misogynistic views, his supporters argue that he created his own unique
brand of surreal mysticism. His advertising work in the late 70s (including
shoots for luxury footwear brands Charles Jourdan and Roland Pierre ) often
portrayed woman as weak and controlled a strict counterpoint to works by
contemporaries like Helmut Newton and Avedon. However his imagery is
undeniably captivating, and the use of bright colour, staged surrealism and
sex has influenced the work of modern fashion photographers like Terry
Richardson.

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Image via Sunspel

1980 2000:
The age of
rampant
commercialism

The 80s were the

start of a brave new frontier for fashion photography. Commercialism, a force
that had laid somewhat dormant for much of the previous 60 years, suddenly
reared its head. Fashion was starting to have a broader appeal as Europe and
Americas burgeoning middle class took more of an interest in what they
wore. They had more money to spend, and savvy fashion labels like Calvin
Klein, Levis and Ralph Lauren were only too happy to take it.
A standout campaign from 1981 featuring a 15-year-old Brooke Shields
personified this perfectly. Shot by the omnipresent Richard Avedon, the ad
for Calvin Klein jeans saw Shields proudly declare that nothing came
between her and her Calvins. It was a line that came straight out of an ad
mans notepad, but it caught the publics attention. Almost overnight it made
Calvin Klein jeans a highly desired product.

Image
via Calvin
Klein

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One man completely at home in the studio, and finding a new demand for his
work, was Irving Penn. Throughout the late 80s he teamed up with Japanese
designer Issey Miyake for a compelling and ground-breaking set of adverting
campaigns. Taking influence from Steichens simplistic approach and
blending in his own subtle surreal tones, Penn took Miyakes futuristic
designs and exaggerated them with large, embellished silhouettes, using the
pattern of the fabric and the contortion of the human body to showcase
Miyakes creations in a whole new light.
Penn was extrapolating Steichens blueprints, pushing the relationship
between product, model and photographer further than anyone had done
before. He had stayed true to the studio, even when his peers were shunning
it. He had used this time wisely and was advanced in his use of lighting and
considerate in the sparseness of his shots. This approach has since inspired a
whole new generation of fashion photographers to look beyond the normal
and push the boundaries of what can be achieved, conceptually, in the
studio.

Image
via Sange
Bleu
The 90s produced a slew of classic ads. From the strong female role models
portrayed by Donna Karen, to the American dream represented by Ralph
Lauren, the 90s were seen by many as the golden age of the ad campaign.
Alongside sex, labels used supermodels to focus their campaigns around,
finding an obvious link between their natural beauty and aspirational
products.

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Once again, Calvin Klein was at the forefront of this new movement, and
turned up the heat in a particularly famous campaign from 1992. Featuring
Mark Wahlberg paired with a fresh-faced Kate Moss, the unassuming blackand-white shoot by Bruce Weber captured the essence of this new direction.
The simple image of them both, topless, sporting clearly branded underwear
was all that was needed to get the message across. And it worked. Calvin
Klein saw a huge uplift in sales, turning them into a globally recognised
brand.

Image via Tumblr

2000s:
Hypersexuality
As
mankind
has
thoroughly
established over the decades, sex sells. But, while people like Helmut
Newton and Guy Bourdin had used imagery for its sex appeal extensively in
the 70s, the 2000s ushered in a new age of hyper sexuality that was
designed as much to shock as it was to sell clothes.
One man not afraid of using flesh to push his products was Tom Ford. The
iconic campaign for his first fragrance, For Men, was shot by Terry Richardson
in 2007 and blended Fords penchant of sexual imagery with Richardsons
stark and instantly identifiable flashbulb aesthetic. Bourdin was clearly a
huge influence on this work; the highly manipulated studio shots, use of
colour and slightly sinister portrayal of female sexuality are all present.
Strategic placement of the perfume bottle leaves little to the imagination,
and the campaign caused a lot of controversy, as well as a lot of exposure,
for Ford.

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Image via WordPress

Another campaign from the Tom Ford stable was released in 2003 whilst the
designer was working for Gucci. Stylised and simplistic, this ad, shot by Mario
Testino, garnered a lot of attention as it featured a female model with the
Gucci G shaved into her pubic hair. Less about the clothing and more about
the preening, it was a bold move for Ford, but one that once again proved
the old adage that theres no such thing as bad publicity.

Image via Racked

Although not averse to using sexual imagery in his advertising, Marc Jacobs
strode a different path in the 2000s alongside longtime collaborator Juergen
Teller. Tellers distinctive photography style played a huge part in Jacobs
promotional campaigns and differed hugely from the glamorous, highly
stylised shoots of his contemporaries.
One standout example from 2003 featured Hollywood actress Winona Ryder.
Having recently been arrested for shoplifting from the Saks department store
in Beverly Hills, Ryder arrived in court wearing a Marc Jacobs dress. Spotting
an opportunity, Jacobs hired her, and the now infamous ensuing photoshoot
encapsulates his irreverent take on design with a devil may care attitude.

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Image via FashionMagazine.com

Celebrity endorsements and the celebration
of wealth
Since Mark Wahlberg first posed for Calvin Klein back in 1992, big brands
have been acutely aware of the attention a celebrity can bring to their
campaigns. Strong females are a particular favourite, with fashion houses
holding their rebellious and provocative spirit in high regard. Miley Cyrus for
Marc Jacobs (much to the disapproval of Juergen Teller, who allegedly refused
to work with the star), Lady Gaga for Versace and Lindsay Lohan for Miu Miu
have all followed in the footsteps of Winona Ryder.

Image
via Jezebel

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Current campaigns have also an increasing return to the nostalgia-tinged

glamour of choreographed black-and-white shots. Hedi Slimane has
repeatedly channelled 70s era Helmut Newton for a large number of his
campaigns for Saint Laurent, while Julia Roberts for Givenchy, Madonna for
Versace and Mila Kunis for Miss Dior have all featured a similar monotone
theme.

Image
via Fashion
Gone Rogue

Perhaps the most dramatic shift in modern fashion photography, however, is

the way in which campaigns are now being consumed. Between 2006 and
2013, the amount of pages dedicated per year to advertising in Vogue fell by
16%. In an age of Instagram and blogs, its clear fashion marketers have
adopted a new strategy one that includes a tacit acceptance that images
may not ever make it anywhere near a glossy A4 magazine page, and may
only ever be consumed on a scrolling social media feed. Content today is
created in order to be shared, liked and retweeted. For many brands,
lookbooks are the new ad campaigns cheaper to produce, easier to
consume and better suited for distribution across digital mediums.

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Image
via Instagra
m

Once the gatekeepers of the industry, today fashion magazines have been
usurped by the internet. For some, this move is democratising, removing the
elitism that the fashion industry old guard have long been accused of
fostering. But, to many, it is the gentle dumbing down of a once proud art
form that, thanks to the work of people like Steichen, Avedon, Newton and
Penn, has long held great cultural and historical significance.

Words by Charlie Haywood for Highsnobiety.com