Little girls are predisposed to fantasize about their futures.
Prince charming and a knight in shining armor and ultimately, trailing off into the sunset to live happily ever after.
With a divorce rate that has long since lapped the success of marriage, we now know better. The modern woman doesn’t dream of the perfect man— she wants the perfect career, and this little girl dreamed of a five letter word synonymous with all things fashionable, luxurious, and truly the indisputable source of style: Vogue.
Today I assisted William Graper as he styled Rad Hourani for Vogue Russia, and somewhere between steaming and pinning and dressing and absorbing, I managed to spare a moment to take a few pictures.
The shoot took place in SOHO at the photography studio of Amy Troost. It was the most lovely space, the ubiquitous desire of all artists with sprawling vintage hardwood floors, white walls, and empty spaces waiting to be filled with ideas patiently biding to be conceived.
This is Rad. A portait of a designer wearing clothing he fabricated might just be the most efficient key to decipher both the artist and his craft. As a product derived from his own imagination, he models, from head to toe, an accurate representation of himself.
Based on this understanding, I arrive confidently at the conclusion that Rad is just as fabulous as the clothes he adorns.
Three pairs of embellished black pants. Three more additions to my ever-growing list of fancies.
Above, a jacket hanging on the wardrobe rack, and below, a jacket hanging on my shoulders! I prefer the second scenario!!
Above, William secures the ankle of the pants with a pin. He is passionate in his vision and thorough in its execution. I respect him for his hard work and and genuinely applaud him for his early success. It is this attention to detail, I believe, that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. William is the latter. Take note, quotidian.
I wish I could show more but instead, leave the allure to the February issue of Vogue Russia. Unfortunately, Rad’s Spring/Summer 2010 will just have to wait until its namesake!
Above is a photo of William and Rad. I was honored to spend the day with these two.
Stylist and designer, respectively, they are equal in enthusiasm for their work and compatible based on a similar aesthetic. Both are amazing, and adorning boots in the same esteem!
(see below!)
At five years old, again a little girl with aspirations of grandeur, I refused to go to sleep unless I was wearing my shoes. Although not quite as glamorous as the Bottega Venettas in my mother’s Vogue, my feet demanded comforts found not in the bunny slippers of my peers but instead, in a pair of pink feather “high heels” purchased at Toys R Us. My mother would sneak into my room after I had fallen asleep, carefully removing the slippers and gently tucking me under the covers only to be awoken later to my screams in desperation, asking, WHERE ARE MY SHOES!
This obsession has not left me. That little girl is twenty three, still avidly consulting Vogue, and if somehow I found Rad Hourani boots in my possession, let me affirm:
they would never leave my feet.
