Leandra Medine, blogger: Man Repeller; Photo by Ashley Rowe
Street style is one of the most popular features on FLARE, whether it hails from Paris, New York or Toronto. Why is it that we connect so strongly to these photographs of women, who often have lives, careers, budgets and access to fashion that’s vastly different from our own? The power of street style lies in the dichotomy of inspiration and reverie.
Ada Kokosar, Stylist + Fashion Consultant and Hanneli Mustaparta, model and blogger; Photo by Ashley Rowe
We click through galleries and frequent fashion sites to find out what’s happening in the zeitgest. This inspires us to try new shapes, colours, lengths, patterns, pairings. But we also enjoy the fantasy and frivolity—as fashion lovers how could we not? Getting dressed every day should be fun and street style brings every guest to the party: the kook, the chic, the natural, the chameleon. So what does it take to capture that moment?
Photographer Ashley Rowe descended on New York Fashion Week to join the street style photo pack at the Spring 2014 shows (see 10 of her portraits). Videographer Renée Rodenkirchen documented Rowe’s journey in order to share the chaos, competition, work and delight that goes into each image. They managed to capture the godfather of street style, Bill Cunningham, on tape (you can hear him right at the beginning) saying:
“It’s not me, it’s the people, the subjects… you know?” So true.