Dolce & Gabbana F/W 1999.00 : Gisele Bündchen & Michael Altman by Steven Meisel

[ivano]

Vogue, Vanity Fair and Esquire Archive

 

[aracic]

Dolce & Gabbana F/W 1999.00 Catalogue

Photography: Steven Meisel
Models: Gisele Bündchen & Michael Altman


my scans

 

[Phuel]

I wonder if Meisel and Dolce ever look back at such a masterclass of creative vision in storytelling these days, and feel the slightest lament at their current less-than-masterful trajectory...??? They’ve got to see how their current work has slipped far from such once visionary standards; even if arrogance, apathy, and fame has bought them everything-- everything but soul that's still very potent in these imageries.

 

[MagFan]

Phuel, sadly these are only your standarts and of small group of people, masses not tried to educate themselves in these past 20 years, they lived their ordinary lives like fashion photography never existed. So poor quality of today's photography is exactly their level

 

[ivano]

If I'm not wrong Meisel used the same kind of style for the Grey Gardens story. Maybe D&G liked the aesthetic and made this campaign after.

 

[Phuel]

Phuel, sadly these are only your standarts and of small group of people, masses not tried to educate themselves in these past 20 years, they lived their ordinary lives like fashion photography never existed. So poor quality of today's photography is exactly their level

LOL Nevermind the witless masses (I’ve worked-- and will likely continue to work on accounts that are for the masses…). What I’m interested in is if Meisel (…and/or Dolce, Miuccia, Carine, even Anna…) look back at the immaculate creative visions that they’d once would consistently present that set the standards of the industry, and feel just a tad underwhelmed with their current efforts. Just like Anna’s got to know that the Rafael mess that was the flagship editorial for the September issue remains the most embarrassing effort on every level: creatively and technically. And that a decade ago, she would have had him blacklisted from Conde Nast for such slop. Meisel to an extend, even with the best of his current efforts— the Zara campaign and the Sofia WSJ shoot for example, pales next to the imageries of this campaign and his work during this era.

I get that brands and creatives— and the rest of us nobodies, have to do what they/we need to do, to keep their/our jobs. But there has to come a time, when your own principles, your own artistic integrity and your own preservation of your legacy, has to overcome your ego to remain relevant. When you have amassed the fame that will secure you in the top spots of the fashion parthenon, and the fortune for a lifetime of security and luxury, wouldn’t you want to create at your most potent, rather than to desperately be shackled to the corporate demands??? Because clearly, their current output is not anywhere close to the level that they demanded of themselves once.

I’ve mentioned this before and it’s worth mentioning again: Creatives like Helmut Lang, Ann D and Tom Ford are still so admirable for walking away from what they once gave everything to, when they no longer feel like they’ve got anything else to give. That’s the kind of grace and dignity to bow out that’s as aspirational as their highest creative offerings were, and remain inspirational.