steven meisel's fabulous fakes
The photographer shoots a series of fake ads for W magazine.
American photographer Steven Meisel appears to be fed up with shooting real ad campaigns, releasing a range of 'fabulous fakes' for the November 2011 issue of W magazine. Over the years, Meisel has shot campaigns for the likes of Versace, Valentino, Dolce and Gabbana and Calvin Klein, not to mention his affiliation with Prada, for whom he has shot campaigns each season since 2004. Now, the renowned photographer goes to town for W, poking fun at the institution of advertising and producing some seriously amazing fake ads. Among those who modelled for Steven's fakes were Linda Evangelista, Anna Dello Russo, Natasha Poly, Karen Elson, Joan Smalls and Caroline Trentini.
'Steven Meisel's Fabulous Fakes' 8 nine different advertisements. Meisel pokes fun at 'typical' ad formulas of all kinds, from lingerie to shampoo, face cream and celebrity-endorsed perfumes. There is even a cheeky nod towards the constant decline in the average age of models, with a reference to Toddlers in Tiaras featuring Eden Wood.
If it weren't for his tongue-in-cheek references, though ? like in his fake ad for a fragrance entitled 'Vainglorious', or the model missing her underwear whilst promoting 'La Femme' (drag queen Carmen Carrera) ? you could hardly tell that these are fakes. You even need to double-take when you see Karen Elson posing for a lingerie ad, surrounded by a group of butt-naked male models presenting their reddened derrieres for another spanking.
We think the 'fabulous fakes' are, well, pretty fabulous and overall, a refreshing injection of playfulness into an otherwise fairly serious industry. One fan still managed to take the fakes quite seriously, though, commenting on models.com:
Yes good call Steven. You should shoot more people your age (60s).
Rosie Dalton
