Irene Silvagni photographed by peter lindbergh some 20 years ago in her Avignon home.
MONIKA BIELSKYTE / PHOTOGRAPHY, FOR YOU, WAS ALWAYS OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE, IN YOUR WORK AS YOHJI’S CREATIVE DIRECTOR AS MUCH AS WHEN YOU WERE A MAGAZINE EDITOR.
IRENE SILVAGNI / FOR THE EARLIEST YOHJI CATALOGUES I WASN’T THERE, I WAS AT VOGUE. INSTEAD THERE WAS A WONDERFUL ART DIRECTOR NAMED MARC ASCOLI WHO WAS INVOLVED WITH YOHJI. MARC HAD ALL THOSE GREAT IDEAS & A GREAT EYE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY & PHOTOGRAPHERS & WAS VERY INVOLVED. HE DID A GREAT JOB. YOHJI HAS A PARTICULAR SYSTEM OF WORKING WITH PHOTOGRAPHERS. HE’LL SAY, ‘I AM DOING THE COLLECTION, BUT I AM ALLOWING MY ART DIRECTOR & THE PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT ART DIRECTOR CHOOSES, TO MAKE AN INTERPRETATION OF MY WORK & I WANT TO BE SURPRISED’. THIS IS YOHJI; HE ALWAYS SAYS IT’S NOT HIS JOB TO DECIDE ON THE PHOTOGRAPHY OR THE CATALOGUE, HE WOULD LIKE THE PHOTOGRAPHERS & THE ART DIRECTORS TO WORK ON IT. BUT HE ALWAYS HAS THE RIGHT TO SAY I DON’T LIKE IT. WHICH HAPPENED & THE THING HAD TO BE REDONE; IT HAPPENED WITH ME, IT HAPPENED WITH MARC. SO ALL THOSE CAMPAIGNS, FROM THE EARLY YEARS UNTIL MY ARRIVAL, WERE DONE BY MARC ASCOLI, WITH NICK KNIGHT, MAX VADUKUL, THEN I CAME & MARC LEFT, & THEN HE CAME BACK AGAIN, & HE WORKED WITH ME ON 2 CATALOGUES, & WITH M/M (PARIS) WE ALSO DID CATALOGUES WITH DAVID SIMS, CRAIG MCDEAN, PAOLO ROVERSI. THEN, MARC LEFT BECAUSE HE HAD OTHER THINGS TO DO & YOHJI PREFERRED NOT TO GO TO THE PAST BUT TO GO TOWARDS SOMETHING ELSE. MAX WAS WORKING ON Y’S, WE DID A FEW CATALOGUES FOR Y’S, FERDINANDO SCIANNA ALSO WORKED ON Y’S, & INEZ & VINOODH, AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR GREAT CAREER, ALSO DID A FEW CATALOGUES FOR US. SO WE WERE DOING YOHJI YAMAMOTO CAMPAIGNS & CATALOGUES FOR A VERY LONG TIME, BUT WE STOPPED A FEW YEARS AGO. THERE WAS AN ECONOMIC REASON, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY YOHJI WAS TIRED OF IT; HE WANTED A NEW WAY OF SHOWING HIS CLOTHING. HE NEEDED A LITTLE BIT OF AIR & A LITTLE BIT OF SILENCE AROUND HIS WORK. FINALLY WHAT REMAINS ARE GREAT IMAGES, BECAUSE YOHJI WAS OPEN ENOUGH TO GIVE THE FREEDOM TO THE PHOTOGRAPHERS & THE ART DIRECTORS. NOW I DON’T SEE MANY MYTHIC IMAGES THAT WILL REMAIN FOR THE FUTURE FROM CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING, EXCEPT MAYBE FOR THE MARC JACOBS CAMPAIGNS BY JUERGEN TELLER, THEY HAVE THEIR OWN PERSONALITY, YES. BUT SOMETHING THAT WOULD CREATE HISTORY, A STORY THAT WOULD MARK, THERE ARE NOT MANY THINGS LIKE THAT TODAY. WHAT COMME DES GARÇONS IS DOING AROUND THE FRAGRANCES, & THE COMME DES GARÇONS SHIRT, THEIR CATALOGUES, THEY ARE ALWAYS VERY INTERESTING, BUT WHAT WAS DONE IN THOSE YEARS AT THE BEGINNING OF YOHJI NEVER REPEATED, EVER.
[..]
MB / WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE NEED TO GET CLOSE TO DEATH IN ORDER TO START APPRECIATING THEIR LIFE, ALL THE SIMPLE THINGS, TO STOP BEING AFRAID OF GIVING OF ONESELF? SINCE I LOST MY FRIEND, IT MADE ME REALISE I SHOULD NOT WAIT BEFORE SHOWING PEOPLE I REALLY CARE ABOUT THEM, BECAUSE MAYBE IF PEOPLE REALLY KNEW THAT OTHERS CARED ABOUT THEM, IT COULD SAVE THEM.
IS / YES BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT YOU CANNOT HELP SOME PEOPLE BECAUSE THEIR DESTINY IS SORT OF TRACED. EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE, SOMETIMES IT IS TOO LATE TO STOP THE PROCESS OF HAVING HURT YOURSELF. ANYWAY, WE ALL ARE GOING TO DIE, THAT'S FOR SURE. SALVADOR DALI MADE A RECORD. HE SAYS THAT SOMETIMES HE INVITES DEATH TO COME SIT WITH HIM, HAVE A DRINK, SO HE'LL KNOW HER BETTER, SO WHEN SHE COMES HE'LL BE LESS AFRAID. I HAVE IT HERE & I WILL MAKE YOU LISTEN TO IT IN SPANISH BECAUSE IT'S REALLY VERY SURREALIST & VERY TRUE AT THE SAME TIME. IF YOU GOT CLOSER TO THE IDEA OF DEATH YOU WOULD BE LESS AFRAID TO DIE AT THAT CERTAIN MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE. LIFE & DEATH, I EXPERIENCED BOTH OF THEM. WHEN MY CHILDREN WERE BORN IT WAS LIFE & WHEN MY HUSBAND DIED IN MY ARMS IT WAS DEATH. THOSE ARE THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES. BECAUSE THOSE TWO THINGS GO BEYOND OUR WILL. THE CHILD IS BORN & YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT & WHEN WE DIE, WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I BELIEVE THERE ARE NO STRONGER MOMENTS THAN THAT IN LIFE— BIRTH & DEATH. THE REST IS JUST FILLING UP YOUR LIFE & PREPARING YOUR DEATH. WE ARE ON THIS EARTH FOR A REASON, SO WE HAVE TO TRY TO FILL IT UP WITH DAYS THAT ARE FULL OF THINGS THAT ARE SOMETIMES PAINFUL, SOMETIMES JOYFUL BUT ALWAYS FULFILLING BECAUSE WE HAVE TO TRY TO LIVE LIFE THE BEST WE CAN. BUT WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT & OUR CONCEPT OF LIFE IS DIFFERENT. I AM NOT PERFECT AT ALL, I AM THE ONLY ONE TO KNOW MY OWN SECRETS & TO KNOW MY DEFECTS & WEAKNESSES, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR EVERY NIGHT & SAY I DID MY BEST.
/ Excerpt from A CONVERSATION WITH Irene Silvagni. ENTIRE 5 PAGE INTERVIEW ONLY IN PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE ISSUE003 / FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE
POSTED 08.36AM BY LUKE MAYES / SEE ALL POSTS RELATED TO THIS AUTHOR