The fashion editorial entitled Girls and Cats for New York-based magazine Spirit and Flesh was inspired by the paintings of Polish-French modern artist Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, best known as Balthus.
“Richly lit and slightly transgressed, Joseph Chen and Freddie Leiba invite us to be fashion voyeurs. With beautifully selected garments and strong, moody compositions, this story is a must-see homage to Balthus,” commented Yelena Deyneko, Creative Director of Spirit and Flesh magazine.
“We were very much inspired by Balthus’ exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and it just so happened that there are the right clothes in the S/S 14 collection to do a fashion editorial with his work as inspiration,” reveals Freddie Leiba.
The editorial was shot with Brazilian model Paula Mulazzani with male model Jonathan Zakus. Mulazzani recently graced the catwalk for fashion houses such Giorgio Armani and Naeem Khan. Rob van Dorssen did both hair and makeup.
Photographer Joseph Chen concludes, “I think this is one of my best works ever and surprisingly, we finished three hours earlier than anticipated. Freddie and I was planning and conceptualizing this photo shoot for more than three months before shooting it.”
Designs by Calvin Klein, Max Mara, Ralph Lauren, Paul Smith, DKNY were used to style the editorial.
Model Paula Mulazzani