VERUSCHKA as "the Girl in the Fabulous Furs"

                                       

 

Photos from the Richard Avedon photoshoot "the Girl in the Fabulous Furs"(from American Vogue October 15th 1966.

 I just saw the documentary about Diana Vreeland called "The Eye Has to Travel" at the Bell Lightbox, and my head is still spinning from all the eye candy. Vreeland was the notoriously uncompromising and always colourful editor of first Harper's Bazaar, then Vogue. Aside from Diana Vreeland's willingness to live out her grandest fantasies in full technicolour, I also love that Vreeland had her clothes made by Coco Chanel back in the 1920's, as well she managed a lingerie shop in London that sold naughty items made by nuns.

Veruschka was a supermodel of the 1960's into the 70's (maybe even still?), and fancied herself more a muse for artistic editorials, even turning down more mainstream commercial modeling work if it was not of a certain creative standard. Vreeland favoured Veruschka for some of her more fantastical projects, including an editorial that was shot on location in Kyoto, Japan, and published for Vogue in October 1966 entitled "The Girl with the Fabulous Furs". Richard Avedon was the photographer. In these photos we are transported to a wintry Kyoto, misty and snowy and full of mystery.

I had travelled to Kyoto a couple of years ago in the dead heat of summer, and have always wanted to return there in winter, to see everything under a blanket of snow. I love the idea of travelling to places in winter, being cozy inside a warm coat or blanket while drinking in the landscape (and maybe some hot local hooch).