When I am asked to style a fashion shoot I try to come up with a fun idea for the story. I can get inspired by a movie, by a current art exhibition, by an old Vogue or Harpers Bazaar editorial, by a book. But I never thought I could get inspired by a TV commercial. Well, it was a very special one... In the mid 80s (when I was a teenager and started to grow my aesthetic sense) Levi's decided to launch its stonewashed jeans with a hot Nick Kamen getting undressed in a laundrette. That really changed the perception of a commercial message, and created a mass hysteria among TV viewers all over the world. And it did affect my imagery too. Et voila', it was the perfect idea for a shoot with Baptiste Giabiconi, one of Karl Lagerfeld's proteges.
I proposed the idea to photographer Ben Harries, who got it immediately-he thought it would be fun. Then we found an old fashioned laundrette in London as location. But who was going to explain to Baptiste that he had to replicate Nick Kamen's actions for our shoot? It didn't take that long before he stripped down and enjoyed the pictures. That was a lucky day...