REFLECTION: A SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS
A space in between worlds, where clocks only suggest the passing of time. Light travels backwards, suns reset, the boarding gates of life.
For Spring/Summer 23, ANEST COLLECTIVE has collaborated with photographer and director Misha Taylor and the Paris-based art direction agency Ohlman Consorti to produce a film and stills campaign around the theme of ‘Reflection’.
Filmed on location at Paris Orly Airport, the evocative film is a study of light, shadow and hidden emotions. It follows two protagonists as they await departure from the airport on their own separate journeys. There is a mysterious and magnetic connection between them. As they stand still in time lapse, the world revolves around them in perpetual motion. Dream sequences combining archival videos and original imagery evoke the abstractions of life.
Conceived in collaboration with Shanghai founders, Nathan Zhao and Emily Chen, and Milan-based Contributing Creative Director, Brendan Mullane, the campaign reflects ANEST COLLECTIVE’s vision as a conceptually driven brand, rooted in contemporary art.
“The theme of the Spring Summer 23 collection was the three different ways of looking at the idea of reflection; it’s about reflection, and glass, and light,” says Mullane. “We looked at how light reflects onto the body. The lightness allows us to layer one element on top of another.” The design process for the collection began with research into the mirrored light installations, symmetrical architecture, and the classical portrayal of Narcissus observing himself in the surface of a pool.
The airport location adds a new layer to the theme. “We were interested in the airport being somewhere where we are in transition, where we are not anchored to a reality and can explore potential and freedom” says Pierre Consorti, partner at Ohlman Consorti. “You have these panoramic windows that allow you to gaze at the tarmac, to think outside the parameters of your everyday life. It’s not a destination itself, it is not a point of arrival either.”
‘Reflection’ is the brand’s first collaboration with South African-born director and photographer, Misha Taylor, known for his fluid and emotive style. “In collaborating with Misha, we were interested in how he would translate the concept with his own reflection on it and bring it to life in another form” says Mullane. “In the film everything is moving at speed around these characters, their inner worlds are displayed outwardly. It asks the viewer to stand still, to focus on your own thoughts while everything is changing around you.”
CREDITS:
Director: Misha Taylor
DOP: Adrian Kuchenreuther -
Stylist: Isabelle Kountoure
Art Direction: Ohlman Consorti
Models: Helena Severin & Dylan Roques
Hair: Richard Sebastien
Makeup: Satoko Watanbe
