To illustrate the relationship between fashion and art, performance artist Marina Abramović decided to breastfeed Givenchy artistic director Riccardo Tisci. The result is a profound image, with a Madonna-esque (the Virgin Mary, not the queen of pop) Abramović and a serene Tisci, content from his "nourishment."
Tisci, no stranger to the art world (he fêted Abramović for her MoMA exhibition and dressed her for the Oscars), arrived to one of the issue's first meetings prepared with a stack of inspirational images ready to curate an eclectic mixture of artists for the project. "He has his medium for clothes, he does fashion shows, he's in stores, they have shops — this is expressing the whole inspiration behind all of that stuff and really wanting to give a voice to a lot of artists that he admires. It's a really interesting mix of artists that he has put together, from quite old people to very young people, to very established artists to emerging artists. It's like a really nice mixture and it speaks a lot about who he is and where he comes from and what his inspirations are," said Dean.
A work of art in itself, taking a little over a year to make, Visionaire 60 is a leather-wrapped, 228-page, hard-bound book inspired by a church altarpiece. Printers in Italy who specialize in black-and-white produced the pages, while Givenchy made the case, a box sourced from antique reclaimed wood in China. Upon opening the box, a scent — created by Givaudan perfumer Yann Vasnier — emerges, evoking memories of the incense burned in the Catholic Church. Only 3,000 copies exist. "Each one was slightly different," said Dean. "It was pretty labor intensive."
Sometimes it was pure happenstance, as in the case of ceramic sculptor Jared Buckheister, model Jamie Bochert, photographer Danko Steiner, and his stylist wife, Ana. "They actually met at the party at MoMA... and they happened to be sitting at the same table, so they met each other, and they were like, 'Wow it would be so fun to do something together,' and then 'Religion' came up, and so they immediately saw that of course this was the perfect opportunity," recalled Dean.
The works have no common ground other than the theme of religion, and can be described with adjectives like beautiful, haunting, shocking, provocative, bizarre, thought-provoking, and funny — but that doesn't do justice to actually viewing them. Controversial Death Row inmate Damien Nichols drew a series of symbols. Mario Sorrenti photographed model Arizona Muse and her baby, a take on the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, styled by Camilla Nickerson. Photographer Nick Knight scanned Kate Moss, styled by Katy England, turning the supermodel into an angel-like figure. Giovanna Battaglia pulled clothing from religious stores, even getting some antique pieces, to style transsexual model and Tisci muse Lea T for a photo by Pierpaolo Ferrari. And hair stylist Luigi Murena piled flowers on Christina Ricci's head (Dean says Tisci is a big fan) for a photo by Daniele & Ingo.
Inspired by the work of performance artist Jan Fabre (who coincidentally, is also in the issue), Willy Vanderperre shot two models styled by Olivier Rizzo. Tattoo artist Mark Mahoney completed the image, illustrating the background with religious symbols. By chance, Tisci fell in love with a photograph of hands on a body by V magazine designer Cian Browne, while at the office, immediately placing the picture in the issue. "It didn't really matter who it was making the image," Dean admitted. "As long as the image really struck him and meant something to him, it was important to have it in the issue."
Even an appearance by the ubiquitous James Franco is included in the issue, via a collaboration with MoMA curator Klaus Biesenbach and photographer David Benjamin Sherry.
Many of the featured artists went beyond their usual styles. Mario Testino worked with sculptor Berlinde De Bruyckere to create a spread consisting of photos of De Bruyckere's works next to photos of male models. "It's not the Mario Testino that you know from Vanity Fair," mused Dean with a sly smile. "It's a whole other side of his art." Artist Terence Koh became a stylist for a photo by Jack Pierson of musician Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons. "Terence is totally multi-talented," praised Dean. "He's got his aesthetics, so he can kind of apply it to anything whether it's a performance piece, or a photo, or a sculpture, or his outfit, or styling — in this case."
Tisci even paid tribute to his family designating a blank page to each member. "Riccardo dedicates each gold page to one of the women in his life, so he has a mother and eight sisters, and that's who raised him, and his father, who died when he was quite young, represented by the shiny black page," said Dean.
The finale to such an overwhelmingly emotional body of work? A light piece by Harper's Bazaar fashion editor Melanie Ward: Directions on how to make a "God Box." "That was a really nice ending, it's just kind of like with a sense of humor," Dean said with a smile.
