Following Christian Dior’s abrupt death in 1957, his celebrated fashion house went into a tailspin. The remaining executives at the label thought about closing. Dior’s legacy, however, and permanence within the fashion industry made this option untenable. Instead, a young creative with a fresh perspective would be promoted to creative director: Yves Saint Laurent. While Saint Laurent’s designs were originally met with positive critical reception, his later collections proved to be too eccentric, effectively pushing Dior out of the spotlight. In 1960, Saint Laurent was selected to join the French army, and, given his esoteric selections, the Dior brand did not protest his decision to leave.

Marc Bohan replaced Saint Laurent in 1960, abandoning Saint Laurent’s offbeat designs in favor of a clean, pared-down aesthetic. Channeling the 1920s, Bohan guided the brand into a niche that felt neither futurist nor dated. While Bohan’s interpretation of classic Dior designs kept the brand in the public eye, several ownership changes in the late ‘70s resulted in an unsettling atmosphere. In the midst of a massive upheaval, the brand needed direction. It came in the form of a revolutionary photo campaign. In 1982, Richard Avedon changed both the public perception and arch of the Dior brand.

Revolving around an entirely fictitious family aptly titled “The Diors,” the campaign featured Kelly Lebrock as “The Mouth,” Andre Gregory as “The Wizard,” and Vincent Vallarino as “Oliver.” Even though the concept of the campaign echoed quirky ideas championed during Saint Laurent’s stint at Dior, the photographic style and the designs themselves reflected the core Dior vision. Avedon chose to portray the family as a sexually-charged ménage-à-trois, posing the members in myriad quirky situations. Furthermore, he chose to design the advertisements like a movie poster, highlighting the glitzy, glamorous lifestyle of the family. Met with a strong critical reception, the advertisement helped further rectify Bohan’s reconstructed vision of Dior’s aesthetic within the public eye.

Dating back to mid-‘90s Antwerp, the blossoming partnership between Raf Simons and Willy Vanderperre has spanned over 20 years. Complementing Simons’ unparalleled boldness, Vanderperre’s photographs of seminal collections, such as “Riot! Riot! Riot!” and “Virginia Creeper”, helped catapult Simons to the forefront of men’s fashion. Over 15 years later, Simons’ influential designs have remained firmly at center stage, with Vanderperre still by his side. The two artists have maintained the same inventiveness originally displayed by the earlier collections throughout the arch of their shared career. “Our relationship has grown closer and more intense, as we never want to repeat what we do. Although strangely enough repetition is a thing we are both obsessed with. But in my visual language, and in Raf’s collections, we always try to explore deeper to keep the image evolving,” [said Vanderperre.]https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/zmxqva/willy-vanderperre-on-20-years-of-collaboration-with-raf-simons )

While Vanderperre’s focused mainly on photography while studying at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, he was initially enrolled in fashion classes. This deeply-rooted passion for fashion manifested itself within his work with Simons. Key to the two collaborators partnership is the concept of a mutual muse. A particular model is often featured in many different collections, serving as a the de-facto face for the brand—a continuous source of inspiration for both Simons and Vanderperre. In the early Antwerp years, Robbie Snelders served this role, but more recently Luca Lemaire has taken on in his stead. Vanderperre’s images echo Simons’ signature aesthetic, which draws inspiration from youth subcultures, mixing them in a way that inhabits the intersection between street and high-fashion.

At only 17 years old, Roversi began to develop an interest in photography. Quickly growing into a true passion, Roversi founded his own studio, where he produced black-and-white photography. As Roversi’s photography career took off, he further refined his artistic approach: representing figures in a surreal manner, allowing for the clothing to truly embody another world. “My photography is more subtraction than addition. I always try to take off things. We all have a sort of mask of expression. You say goodbye, you smile, you are scared. I try to take all these masks away and little by little subtract until you have something pure left. A kind of abandon, a kind of absence. It looks like an absence, but in fact when there is this emptiness I think the interior beauty comes out,” said Roversi.

Roversi met Rei Kawakubo, the founder of Comme Des Garçons, in 1983 and was immediately captivated by her radical, non-conformist approach to fashion. Comme Des Garçons’ designs explore the contours of the human body, representing it in a fresh way through clothing. In turn, Roversi has helped elevate this aesthetic throughout the 30-year partnerships, focusing on the darker, more cerebral aspects of Kawakubo’s work. Many of Roversi’s photographs for the brand have played on the contorted, darker vibe exuded within the collections, often juxtaposing faint glimmers of light and color with overwhelming darkness.

Few individuals in the industry can revitalize a brand quite like Hedi Slimane. Taking over the iconic—if a bit dated— fashion house Yves Saint Laurent in 2013, Slimane transformed the aesthetic of the brand, crafting an offbeat mélange of Los Angeles rocker influences and meticulous Parisian detailing. Famously dropping the Yves in favor of Saint Laurent Paris, the new rendition was modern, polarizing, and wildly successful. In part due to Slimane’s pre-existing cult following as well as a strict aesthetic that helped put rock chic back on the map for the first time in nearly a decade, the “new” brand grew like wildfire. While successful, Slimane’s approach to creative direction proved to be very unconventional. He chose muses for the brand that simply reflected his vision—e.g. excessively skinny venice beach natives— rather than adhering to conventional beauty standards. Further, Slimane cemented his control by relocating the atelier to his now native Los Angeles additionally took on the role as image director, opting to shoot nearly all campaigns and promotional material.

Arguably as famous for his fashion as his photography, Slimane famously spent his time between Dior Homme and Saint Laurent working on a series of photography books, documenting youth culture in London, Berlin and eventually moving to his adopted home Los Angeles. While his designs have at times proved controversial, there is no denying his talent as a fine art photographer, on par with some of the finest in the world, cannot be questioned. Infusing his signature aesthetic—almost always black & white film shot on medium format cameras—Slimane shot nearly everything related with Saint Laurent, apart from various licenses. The bold imagery, that often featured rockstars and cultural icons including Courtney Love, Marilyn Manson and Jane Birkin, immortalized the clothes despite how narrow one had to be to wear them. Although critics panned Slimane for his narrow view on style and repetitious nature, his stunning campaigns were universally loved, and no doubt helped push his hard-rock aesthetic.

While the brand is predominantly known today for underwear, 1990s throwback gear and the newly-launched, Raf Simons-designed label 205W39NYC, Calvin Klein’s impact on American fashion culture is irrefutable. In the 1980s, Klein reshaped the way average men consumed fashion with the release of his underwear line. While the typical man cared little about what he wore, let alone something that was barely visible, Klein shifted this mindset entirely. The line’s immediate popularity rocketed Calvin Klein into the forefront of American fashion, with the ubiquitous underwear universally referred to as “Calvins.” As a brand, Calvin Klein serves as a testament to the true power of advertising and marketing within the fashion industry.

Captivated with beauty from a young age, Steven Meisel’s photography seems especially fixated on sex and the human figure. Calvin Klein enlisted Meisel to shoot a Calvin Klein Jeans ad campaign in 1995, based on an edgy shoot he did for L’Uomos Vogue, which featured two young two young models in bathing suits and sneakers. Meisel elevated that concept to a new level, crafting an almost too provocative campaign. Hailed as one of the most controversial ads of all-time, the 1995 video saw scantily dressed, barely legal young-adults being interviewed by a seemingly-perverted older man. Now referred to as the “banned” campaign, the video ad and associated print images, received significant criticism, resulting in Calvin Klein pulling the ads. While Meisel’s campaigns were incredibly controversial—with some arguing they qualified as child pornography—they undoubtedly had a serious impact on the brand’s public image. The new Calvin Klein, projected through the lens of Steven Meisel, was dripping in sex appeal.

Born in New Jersey in 1917, Irving Penn attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. There, he refined his skills as an artist under Alexey Brodovitch, then art director of Harper’s Baazar, who published several of Penn’s drawings in the magazine. As Penn navigated the fashion world as a freelance designer, he began to experiment with photography. In the early 1940s, Penn was offered a position at Vogue, where he organized the publication’s layout. Soon, however, he was asked to become a photographer. As he transitioned to mainly photography, he began to define his own style, landing his first Vogue cover in 1943. Posing models on pure backgrounds, Penn’s predominantly black-and-white photography displays deep roots in minimalism. But Penn juxtaposes this aesthetic with the conveyed sense of movement within the shot, creating a style unmistakably his own.

Concurrently, on the other side of the globe, Issey Miyake was experimenting with fabrics, textures, and proportions in Tokyo. Born in Japan in 1938, Miyake studied graphic design at Tokyo’s Tama Art University before travelling to Paris, where he applied his knowledge at Givenchy and Guy Laroche. Miyake returned to Japan in the early 1970s and established a studio in Tokyo, where he focused on weaving both Western and Eastern sources of inspiration, reflecting his personal experiences growing up in the culture-clashed environment of post-WWII Japan. Refracting avant-garde designs through the prism of his unique viewpoint, Miyake placed a heightened emphasis on texture and the human form, resulting in unconventional designs that seemed both familiar and entirely fresh.

Through the lens, Irving Penn both accurately represented and elevated Miyake’s designs, ultimately creating images that embodied characteristics of the two artists. Although Penn was cognizant of Miyake’s works throughout the mid 1970s, their fruitful partnership officially began in 1983, when Vogue tasked Penn with photographing Miyake’s designs for an editorial. Penn chose to shoot many of the models mid-motion, allowing the viewer to notice the exaggerated proportions of Miyake’s clothing. By capturing Miyake’s convoluted pieces in his emphatic style, Penn perfectly complemented Miyake’s fascination with texture and movement. For over 13 years, Penn would continue to photograph Miyake’s collections twice a year, injecting his own viewpoint into Miyake’s fashion legacy. Regarding Penn, Miyake said: “He was always able to see something completely different, which was completely beyond anything in my imagination in the clothing I’d sent him, and to challenge me creatively through his interpretations of the clothes.”

Marc Jacobs, whose designs resemble an amalgamation of prep, high-fashion, and ‘90s NYC party culture, first collaborated with famed fashion photographer Juergen Teller in 1998. Teller’s ad campaigns helped cement Jacobs’ visual aesthetic: an understated yet edgy cool. Usually opting for a wide range of colors, Teller’s work conveys a muted, mellow feel that almost feels “pop.” Exclusively shooting with film, Teller refuses to touch up any of his photographs after completion, which creates a deliberate sense of imperfection and rawness. Teller still shoots many of Jacobs’ campaigns, both for his main line and his (now defunct) diffusion line, Marc by Marc Jacobs.

The 2006 “Daisy” campaign epitomizes Teller and Jacob’s collaborative style. Marking the release of Daisy, Jacobs’ wildly popular women’s fragrance, Teller chose to play off the name of the perfume, shooting outdoors in picturesque pastoral settings. Teller reconstructed the carefree, light notes of the perfume through his lens, using oversized perfume bottles with flower tops to accentuate their natural place within the scene. In addition, Teller also incorporated ample natural light, transforming the perfume bottles into shining beacons of femininity.