Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld: You Can Leave Your Hat On
Publisher's Description
This book presents a selection of Karl Lagerfeld’s
photographs of the model Jake Davies in different
locations, settings and moods but all with
one wry thing in common: Davies is wearing a
hat. Lagerfeld’s project is the evocation of various
personae acted out by Davies, not simply the
photographic profile of a youth in changing guises.
Indeed the book’s title page states that it
“stars” Davies, casting him as the lead in an
ambiguous drama. Compact in format, You Can
Leave Your Hat On contains sepia photographs
symmetrically framed by large white margins as
if pasted into an album, like photographic ideas
or filmic fragments. In one scene Davies appears
gangster-like in a high-collared shirt, tie and pinstriped
coat, seated pensively at an outdoor café.
In another he stands poolside at night in a tuxedo,
as if having just stepped out of a glittering
party whose guests cannot be seen. Other
images incorporate portraiture and fashion photography:
for example Davies nude, gazing out a
window or seated in jeans and a casual shirt in a
studio. Throughout these scenarios, Lagerfeld
employs Davies’ hat not only as a playful detail,
but also as a dramatic beacon, linking the
episodes into a larger story whose plot we ourselves
must imagine.
ISBN: 3865215904
Publisher: Steidl
Hardcover : 88 pages
Language: English
Dimensions: 0 x 0 x 0 inches
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Publisher: Steidl
Hardcover : 88 pages
Language: English
Dimensions: 0 x 0 x 0 inches