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 ARGARETH
LAHOUSSEY-DUVIGNY brings a more upbeat mood to Hennes & Mauritz's summer
2001 swimwear shoot. In recent years, Lucire gave the behind-the-scenes
stories to some high-profile supermodel shoots from the Swedish manufacturer.
Lahoussey-Duvigny may not be a name that springs as quickly to mind as last
year's choice of Gisèle Bündchen, but there's little doubting
that she sets off the sportier lines and colours at H&M equally well.We believe Lahoussey-Duvigny has what it takes to repair the damage recently done by negative reports of Asian factories in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. Hennes & Mauritz has been quick to refute them, providing evidence that its suppliers meet a strict code of conduct and that four of the five mentioned by the newspaper were not even H&M suppliers. Hennes & Mauritz has emphasized the flexibility of its swimwear range once again. Floral prints are also emerging throughout Europe. While the arguments about hemlines seem to have subsided these days, floral prints have often come in during uncertain times. With Britain's Labour government telling the nation to spend its way out of possible recession, and some similar pressures being felt on the Continent, perhaps there is a connection. It reminds us of the style (and the happenings) between the oil shocks of the 1970s, during which Lahoussey-Duvigny herself was born. However, back then there was less emphasis on the sporty style that swimwear possesses today. Stripes are the obvious design reaction to leisure activities as they were two years ago, but this time with greater contrast between pastel and darker tones (purple, olive, dark denim shades). To us, the horizontal designs seem to go against being sleek. For a swimmer going forward, they travel perpendicularly. However, this pattern did well after the Salma Hayek-modelled campaign that Mikael Jansson shot for H&M in 1999 and the company cannot be accused of following its competitors. The real bonus here is more accessories, such as sunhats, sunglasses, sarongs and sandals, all wearing the H&M brand. That is also the difference between this and earlier times: the Hennes & Mauritz label has become so well-known that it can support a diversified range. Martinique-born Margareth Lahoussey-Duvigny made her breakthrough in 1998 after being shot by Helmut Newton. Once again, Spanish photographer Luis Sanchis was the man behind the lens for H&M. Duvigny marks a very welcome departure from the style of other models in previous H&M shoots: her features are more natural and distinct, proof that beauty is not so much a combination of physical features but a mood that the model expresses in person, or in this case, through the lens. She is also representative of emerging global notions in modelling, namely that conventional—by that we mean largely occidental—features do not always equate to ideals in the international market-place. If H&M, often ahead of the pack with its choice of models, has picked up on this, we hope others will follow soon, because as others have found it, conventions—even backward ones—have been hard to overturn in a business that can rely on constants such as ever-familiar supermodel faces.  |
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