Speaker I was a child when I met Mr. Avedon in a in a magazine. There was a picture of Salvador VEMA with the elephant. And I say one day I went to work with him. That defense in the attack, you have my mother. My mother was a dressmaker. And my dream is when I became a designer. I want to work with him. Then 20 years later happens. And it was a dream come true.
Speaker So it was the pages of evena.
Speaker Yeah, I just fell in love for the hell against the lightness, the charisma. There was fission in that picture. You know, the word fission was there.
Speaker So do you remember the first meeting with Dick when you talked about what that campaign was going to be and what it needed to do for the look of your clothes?
Speaker Was it like students at the time were going to demised? And he was so easy with Dean the. It’s not big, just like photography is a big like Mantu, you know, it’s such a great, great energy simplicity. And then when we met first time it was 76 was my first campaign. We already have great to go like Jerry Hall and Janice Dickinson, who really put to this girl and on the map, first of any other photographer in the world. And the first campaign was about using women like winning women, elegant, more than about winning. Does that mean that reaching. In the middle of it. Yeah. That was the idea. That was the idea. And it was still one of the more than he did for me. You know, it’s still very, very today.
Speaker Just talk about your clothes. He says he will talk about the clothes, your ideas about them.
Speaker And how real was that photograph?
Speaker I think you go behind facially, look deep at the clothing. I think Avidan is one of the photographers, like fashion one distend, fashion what they come, you know, my fish and always have some inspiration. I know sometimes I don’t know sometimes where I come from. But there is always a reference to art, and he always found a way to reach that particular picture. So that particular inspiration I have I don’t know if this is planned, but when the dress is there, Mr. Rabbit, you know what you have to do. Is there any translate into real. My idea, I think what is great about team translate, vitality, energy, elegance, attitude, nonchalance, class to fashion, when you you saw in Avidan picture is there there is no Dumpty’s Sophiatown that is a sign is so strong. And sometimes that’s make my fashion talk to people very easy. You know how many people stop them in the street in New York or in Los Angeles and say, you know, I loved it myself. Mr. Avidan of your clothing. Many people know me too, Avodart.
Speaker Let’s just go back to that first. WARMSLEY important of setting a tone and definition of what your clothes were about. Do you remember any conversations with what it is that you want to express through your clothes and what you should be expressing through these pictures?
Speaker Of course, that is a lot of conversation before every campaign. The kind of women we want to kind of look could the kind of atmosphere black and white took call a battered hand. Team decide why he’s the genius he has to is the photographer at the moment. Is Shooty has to be. You know, you can talk a lot about the other hand is him. And most of the time when we start we don’t TDA we go to it’s red, we change way. I think in his mind, the photography is already done. He’s so precise. So organize. Sometimes he sketch the pictures. You know, it’s easy to work away. I am. I really love all we do is work.
Speaker Let me help you work with a number of photographers and one.
Speaker Yes, I can I can mention I imagine you’ve worked with a whole number and they’re wonderful, finally specific about one of the ways in which the photography was different is unique, the way of working with you. The result is other photographers as models. What’s single? What’s unique. What did you say?
Speaker Yeah, I’m really in love with photography, working with a great photographer like Mr. Avedon, only live in Penn or Bruce Weber. He’s a challenge for me. I know no disasters. Then explain my fish and to their philosophy, try to combine the two. But to what is specific between Versace and Avedon is eastern. You know, 16 years of work, more than 30 campaign. And that’s make, you know, like a dialogue between us and express my fashion. We do great to voice all over the world. I think if I compared the work we did together with the other photographer, become a small not in sense of quality, but sense of here in sense of quantity and sense of quality.
Speaker This is an example. The idea behind this, what it is working with David on sometimes is more the artistic idea why we start from a picture.
Speaker So like when we did companya on the bed over that bed, we get inspiration from an Oriental artist. And it was like like, wow. Some artist in this campaign was one of my favorites. We work about the nail rallies in my day. Talia Noctis and Manami. He wants women to express beauty with deepness. You know, no empty face. Why? Most of the model sometimes looks just a glossy makeup and nothing. And the idea about this campaign was more about a character, a personality. And Stephanie was great in this campaign. The way she understand. Perfect. What Mr. Avidan want was the work of more about the women wearing Versace than a model wearing Versace. We look at some pictures of the is to look for this.
Speaker That was the beds of you deny everything. I know. Maybe that’s was one of the beds first. Did you have the one seemed too easy like the first campaign. One we’d like upside down was exactly like the bed you have. Another had.
Speaker Talk about this song, you know what I mean, everyone knows. OK.
Speaker I think basic what to make for such a space show is the sense of classicism is inside my work. You know, sometimes I for such is so avant garde. I think that that is not true at all into my work. I always found the roots of Classic and I tried to translate this classic into something with modernist future. And that’s basic is what Mr.. Rather than understanding me. You know why you always refer to classicism when you do my feature, there is always a goddess or or pictures of a great artist. You know, the reference is always art. He’s in my work.
Speaker Isn’t it interesting? Two qualities. Sexuality sexuality’s very present in your clothes. He talks with the heat, I think.
Speaker Now become a very fashion sexuality in clothing. When I start that, people criticize me now is I’m boring. I think sex, one of my people goes too far. But I think sex is part of life. And you have to express that. Why women have is not to be afraid to show their body. Why do they, Jim? They. It’s modern. It’s part of life, sexuality. Not to be too far. Not to be afraid. I think balance. And in my life, in my fashion, that is a part to is sexual. But I think you can refer to women more than fashion where sexuality, sexualities and things, personal things, you know, you can express in a Beecher’s the same dress photograph by Mr Navitaire would be very sophisticated by another photographer. They can be vulgar, you know. It’s always the women you put in the the way you want to talk to people. Why such a choice, Avidan? Why do we want express quality? We want to suppress the height of fashion and work in these last 16 years with Mr Abbott. That was to me a dream and a way to express my work myself. My philosophy in the EIT quality way. However, my philosophy is to make women beautiful, to scream for quality, to to think pink waifish as well, people to be happy. You know, I haven’t thought to be light philosophy, lighter philosophy like feathers. You know, that is fashion. Fashion is things who are born and die every day. I don’t think my work is too stuck there and if keep changing. But basically, there is a this classicism will come back all the time as part of my culture, of my life. And he’s expressing in all the campaign you have did for Versace’s really perfection.
Speaker Yes.
Speaker Sometimes the idea become from a picture.
Speaker So like that was Dellacqua Beecher’s of the bed of a certain about the dead of a certain Apollo, and that Peterson may call the companionway the composition of the features that have many interpretation by Mr Abbadon. And of course, we always have the great account of the great beauty of each indicated that that time was Kim Alexis and Jerry all. And then we have another companion.
Speaker The 76 was the first one, and the men was used like, oh, like object I think was the first campaign when the woman was really winning. Was it really the center of attention and the men was under?
Speaker It was before the feminism. Then there was competition like, you know, abstract things like Cindy Crawford upside down in this campaign. You know, it’s all the time. There is another goal to do and another limit to go behind these. One is one of my favorite features, Sarah.
Speaker They all wear metal mesh, metal dress. And so it can be a crush of the.
Speaker I don’t know how to express, but when I saw this picture, I get to emotion. Then again, my glasses. But this is really like a true scanner. Roman pictures, you know, come from the pictures of the veis roman veis or brick veis.
Speaker There is a sense of a narcissism in this speech or sweets part of fashion, I think. Why we have to love ourself. I think at least a little bit.
Speaker You mentioned they were on and they spoke to you that they have taken personal portraits of you as well. You talked about those? Yeah.
Speaker First time I was photographed by have it on myself. It was like to know him better. He make me relax. It was very easy. And what I like about being photographed by a great photographer is they really tried to take you out. And I have a three or four portraits of Mr Abbott and why I really like a lot.
Speaker What does he see of you in those photographs?
Speaker What did you see me as? I am the real. There you are. That’s was the greatness of Avidan portraits. I think he just. Don’t could be a different you know, can I repeat when you photograph a person, I think it goes straight. He just wants the simplicity. The personality in is in a direct way. You don’t try to to change you. You live. You do what you want. He make you feel yourself. And that’s great about him.
Speaker Who was this? What a classicist.
Speaker I think the one with the portrait I have I’m a very black bear. I was very young and he’s a real, real me. I look like a Greek coins and I think I am. There you catch you there. You know, you bring out to the best of you. But the portrait I like more. Mr. Robertson is not the single of the heart is still the single portrait I think is the only one with great to do a portrait of the humanity. The factory. Andy Warhol pictures to me is the best modern portrait of people. I think you keep the sense of all these people all together. You don’t miss a beat in that features. I think it is that Beecher’s is a genius. He’s a genius. It’s a global portrait of people. I think that that is that the best portrait I saw? A single portrait is more easy. My global portrait. No one can do Azeem.
Speaker And take your word for it.
Speaker What does it mean? They were from the 60s know anything, which is what, 50 years? What would that group portrait?
Speaker I think the moment you saw that portrait, you first you realize the 60s was a crazy time. You realize beauty and freedom start. You know, one is dress up, one is new. The one is a transsexual. One is an artist. You know, the humanity the global village was already there. I think that to be true is amazing. It is amazing way express the spirit of the stage. We still more than today. And it’s the best portrait, I swear my life.
Speaker Let me just go back to some conclusion to the initial campaign with Dick. And one thing I think would be would not be clear to the average viewer is the role that photography, great photography can play in fashion, impacting fashion, too. Who really put designers, clothes and literature on the road to make them infinitely more popular they might have been otherwise. Talk to me about what that campaign did.
Speaker The importance of fashion has no voice. You can be Italian, American of French. You don’t need a language to talk to people. You need an expression on over to like photography. And photography is so important for fashion. I think the way I express your feelings, your thinking and the choice of Avedon was to me necessary for Versace away. When I think of fashion, I think of him. And the way to this year make women dream of my fashion is unbelievable and that each campaign built up my house. Each campaign was a goal is then it is anois campaign even the one I hate. I like less. And after 20 years, I like more. There was all all the time. Something inside, you know, sometimes is unbelievable. I really people stop you in the street to refer to one particular campaign, to a particular emotion you give to them.
Speaker Could you go through the campaigns and characterize the differences? It was a different look for each campaign. Could you do that for us? The first campaign. The second.
Speaker Working for so many hours and so many campaign. I am a lot year photography. Now I like more the black and white. I’m ready for more artistic things. The company is well established. We don’t need to push. And the work with the Avedon and now is like Evan Way. We have this relation Rizza become a more and more deeper, more and more easy. You know, we refer to each other like friend today. And that is very, very important to why we trust each other and that this come out into work. Why the last two or three seasons? The Campagna unbelievable artistic that the domain’s before was a less artistic about the before we look even more the commercial point of view. Today we are free. I’m free like a designer y my house is well established and he’s always free and I leave him more free to do what he wants. I can not to refer to the work of it, or indeed for Versace like a commercial work is not. It’s an artistic work is an artistic way to put to design your name to express himself. I think I have to say thank you to him for that, but I think I leave him free to do that. There is no other designer delivered the photographer free to express. You know, maybe they didn’t work with avideo Bedford earlier.
Speaker So how did your commercial go? You said yeah. So how would you describe those, their intentions, what you were trying to say in the earlier ones as opposed in the campaign?
Speaker You have to keep an audience to make they notify you to make sure they look at you to make they shake them. Today, you can shake them with more attitude, do with the quality we do in a certain way. You don’t have to go too far. You can really go deeper and deeper to express yourself. They then over such and know they know my relation with Mr. Avidan. And it’s become such of their way to to see the campaign every season. They call me and say, how is the new campaign? How what? Mr Abbott. Indeed. They call me from New York. They call me from Paris. Everyone is waiting. It became a kind of an event.
Speaker What’s the next? What’s the idea behind?
Speaker We are working about the next to couture shown in Paris in January. And the idea of Mr Abbott now is to work about two blonde sister, two beautiful girl, blonde Nadya and Claudia Schiffer. And the idea is to have like these twins girl all the time. And the attitude has to be very, very, very elegant, glamorous. But I don’t finish the show. I didn’t did the shooting events. We work in progress all the time.
Speaker Just to summarize, you work 16 years now we work together.
Speaker You know, I cannot think of my fashion without Mr Abbott on his part of my stories, part of my life. He’s part of the things I love when I love photography a lot. I work with new term paper and pen. But the photographer to me is added. Yeah, I don’t think there is there is easy to photograph for man for fish away. They become all the time without fail. Carletto too much. You know, you have chipped. Claudia Schiffer. Glamorous, but to men become a little bit too ridiculous. I think that the only way to use men and Mr Rabbit or no is to make them look like a goddess, to make women dream. And all the compania use a man like goddess. That is Mark Chicken Burger flying with the scarf in her hand. So dancing will become like a modern goddess. I think the other side of the modern way, as Bruce do for us, that’s the only approach I like. Oh, the very dream approach of the very real. They are the greatest demands to.
Speaker Pictures that show Marcus, I think there you have Marcus was that company.
Speaker Yeah, he did. I’m sorry.
Speaker In the hand of Mr rather than a man begin to become a God, I think.
Speaker And their sexuality is an unembarrassed.
Speaker I don’t think beauty can embarrass anyone. I don’t think a classic nude can embarrass anyone. I think only stupid people think beauty make you make me happy.
Speaker You see these top three, you know, there is maybe normal.
Speaker I want to talk of a personal picture seated in Cornwall of the baby. That is to campaign. You are really one campaign. You’re stealing my heart. The one to come and you tell me. And it was like a trip to Italy, like a gay to or a great writer come to Italy in the 18th century. He wants to come a badly to Italy to photograph the factory, the people who work on the factory, the workers.
Speaker And that’s to me was a no match to Italian artisan. It was a great campaign. And I called that campaign trip to Italy and it was really one of my favorite mother. Peter CELAC at the best of Dick is in Lake Como in my house, a very simple, beautiful portrait of the child of my nephew on the sofa with the little umbrella, even in debt to little pictures. He has a spirit. He has class. He has a love.
