by Imruh Asha & Carlijn Jacobs
Vintage satin saucer beret, Les Mauvais Garçons. ‘Coral Reef’ beaded choker, Hugo Kreit.
Leather assemblage skirt (as top), Lanvin.
In an evolving artistic dialogue between stylist Imruh Asha and photographer Carlijn Jacobs, A Magazine presents ‘Wrap / Up’, the second instalment in a series of images that celebrate the very act of styling and the ephemeral nature of image-making as a purely aesthetic construct. In ‘Pin / Up’, Asha laid bare the tricks of the trade, highlighting the way clips and pins can distort the viewer’s perception of a garment. Here, his gaze turns to another sort of illusion – that of the cinematic shadow play of transparency created by layered veils and masks that distort the face through a game of repurposed textiles and up-cycled readymade elements.
Left: Vintage blue feather boa, Les Mauvais Garçons. Orange marabou, blue tulle wrap, polypropylene broom, tulle neckpiece, all stylist’s own. Black dress, Situationist.
Right: ‘Picasso’ hat, Benoit Missolin. Tulle wrap and neckpiece, stylist’s own. Crystal dress, Alexandre Vauthier.
Trained through Jacobs’ lens, Asha’s colourful expression combines traditional millinery and ready-to-wear pieces from Parisian houses such as Lanvin, Balenciaga and Alexandre Vauthier as a canvas for his in-situ assemblage of tulle piping, mesh and feathers, creating a strange tension of colour and form. Together, their vision evokes elegant couture gestures that appear both mysterious and playful at once – questioning the boundaries between body, garment, and ephemeral sculpture.
Left: Pink tulle resin mask, stylist’s own. ‘Coral Reef’ choker, Hugo Kreit.
Right: Marabou feathers, tulle, stylist’s own. Silk dress, Balenciaga.
Photographer: Carlijn Jacobs
Stylist: Imruh Asha
Casting: Ikki Casting @ the art board
Hair: Yuji Okuda @ Artlist
Make-up: Manu Kopp @ Artlist
Stylist Assistants: Aroua Ammari and Anita Szymczak
Talent: Kim Schell @ Viva Paris
Tulle, balloon, ribbon, nylon, tulle, stylist’s own. Leather shirt, Lourdes. Embellished silk shirt, Annakiki.
I’m drawn to the books by their cover, their texture and design; it must catch my eye instantly for me to pick it up. I need a book to intrigue me! I like to spend the whole day reading through my initial selection, as there might be books by many artists I don’t know yet. I can spend more than two hours in a single bookstore, checking every book until I am exhausted. Then I go sit down and get a coffee. And then come back to it again.
‘There’s a relationship between chairs and clothing. Clothes and chairs are objects that function for the body. Each chair is different: even ones made of the same material, the interpretation might be completely different. Like here at this table, all the chairs are made of wood, but each has been designed and treated in a unique way by the designer who made them. For me there’s a link between this and say a pattern for a shirt, where each designer interprets the same thing differently.’
‘We don’t fight.’ The statement is delivered without emphasis, simply as fact. In fashion, volatility is reframed as creative energy. Raised voices, late pivots, visible intensity — these are common. Encouraged, even. But Awa Malina Stelter and Stephanie Gundelach, the founders of Opera Sport, are not interested in that way of working.
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