by Anna Coppertino
The House of Garthus has been one of the primary fur retailers in Norway for decades. Through the ebbs and flows of commerce and fashion, it has maintained a standard that is uniquely it’s own. This family-owned fashion house is seeing a bit of a transition from one generation to another, as Merete Garthus expands the reach of the Garthus house which Erik Garthus built. That transition is in full flow this in this brooding editorial shot by Omi.
Shot in the deepest part of a Swedish forest, on the border of Norway, a collaboration between Garthus Fur and Pieces Uniques Oslo dissects the relationship between organic fur, fine jewelry and a rampant nature that has overwhelmed the car graveyard of Bastnas. An interplay between the intricacy of bespoke jewelry and equally bespoke organic fur is further augmented by the sustainable and poised dance of art and commerce. It is a celebration of nature as much it is a celebration of craft. With the positive and negative movements of Norwegian National Ballet dancer Anais Touret as the foundation, this editorial veers into the aesthetics of sharp contrasts augmented by hazy visuals. The exquisite nature of the fashion on display is counter-balanced through the means of the harshness of the car graveyard and the nature that overrules each piece of metal through rust and soft rain.
Softness complemented by the movement blurs of a ballerina stuck in time, this editorial provides us with narratives that are uniquely distinct and counter-intuitive to our senses.
Pieces Uniques Oslo and Garthus Fur’s collaboration was going to be primarily a celebration of traditional aesthetics with a bit of iconoclastic trend setting (making old new again), but with the introduction of harsh elemental visuals and equally destabilizing background blurs this editorial transcends traditional with ease while remaining firmly grounded on the realm of avant-garde.
The visual sensation these photographs provide are of exquisite fluidity. There are steeped and soaked in the goodness of art while remaining commercially fully relevant. This construction of high-fashion through movements that closely resemble how a car race might be shot speaks volumes about the creative vision of such a shoot and if the photographs are any indication of Garthus’s race to the top, then we all must buckle in.
Team Credits
Fashion and Jewelry : Garthus Fur + Pieces Uniques Oslo | MUA : Corinne Skau
Model : Anais Touret | Photographer : Omi
Creative Direction : Merete Garthus + Omi