I am especially delighted to feature today's esteemed guest columnist—Pierre-Alban HF from The Crowd who approached me with the concept for this post and then kindly agreed to write it and supply the illustrations. Unbeknownst to me, Pierre is actually veritable French fashion royalty: his grandmother is Thérèse Chardin, formerly a model for Balmain and a top hairstylist in Paris renowned for influencing the trends of the day through her work for fashion magazines like Vogue Paris, Elle, and Marie Claire with photographers such as Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Patrick Demarchelier, Bob Richardson, and Sacha Van Dorrsen, the subject of Pierre's article. Pierre co-founded The Crowd Magazine with his friend Kyla while in college, an e-magazine that provides fashion photos, editorials, and interviews with prominent industry insiders (see a list). Be sure to visit The Crowd to view Pierre's own amazing fashion photographs of our favorite editors on the streets of Paris. Je vous remercie, Pierre !
The Fashion Photography Of Sacha
By Pierre-Alban HF
If you wonder about the fashion environment that Vogue Paris editors like Carine Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt grew up in, or the atmosphere at fashion magazines when the two women started as junior editors, then you will love reading the book by fashion photographer Sacha. The 256-page book features fashion photographs and articles in both French and English as written by some of the most major editors of the time, namely Catherine Lardeur and Claude Brouet of French Marie Claire (who, along with the legendary editor Melka Tréanton of Dépèche Mode, notably launched the career of Jean-Paul Gaultier) and Nicole Crassat, the former editor-in-chief of Elle in the 1980s with whom Carine Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt worked! Carine and Emmanuelle have been trained by this breed of editors, the most powerful ones, who launched the careers of Azzedine Alaïa, Thierry Mugler, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Martin Margiela…
Sacha started her career in the 1960s at the French fashion magazine Elle. Her inimitable style garnered her work for other prestigious fashion publications such as Marie Claire (working there for more than 20 years and strongly influencing its image), but also Vogue UK, Vogue Hommes, Harpers Bazaar UK, Elle US, Stern, Dépeche Mode, The Sunday Times Magazine, and more recently, Bloom Magazine.... She also published a book about Christian Dior with Françoise Giroud. The rest, as they say, is history which you can read for yourself in Sacha's new book.
Pierre's grand-mère, Thérèse Chardin, as published in an Italian magazine from the 1970s
Published in January of this year by Editions du Chêne, Sacha : Photographe de mode will soon be out of stock on amazon.fr; if you have a chance to find a copy in a French book store, do not miss the amazing photographs shot for Yves Saint Laurent by Sacha. It is probably the best campaign any photographer has ever done for YSL (page 103). You will also see two photographs of my grandmother, Thérèse Chardin! She started as a model for Balmain (yes, the real Balmain) and then became a famous hairstylist with a salon on the Champs Elysées who obviously worked for Vogue! There are also photos of Carla Bruni at her best.
I believe it is the best fashion photography book of the decade, along with the title by Terry Richardson’s father Bob Richardson (another amazing Vogue photographer from the 1960s). I strongly recommend it if you want to be “in the know” and better understand today’s fashion. On my blog I published an interview I held with the former Marie Claire editor-in-chief Catherine Lardeur, Marie Claire and Elle fashion photographer Sacha, and celebrated Vogue hairstylist Thérèse Chardin, who united to discuss the past, present, and future of the industry. You will learn why they believe that “fashion is dead.”
Pierre's grand-mère, Thérèse Chardin, as photographed by her grandson recently
If you are lucky enough to live in Paris, you can attend the exhibition of Sacha's work at the Institut Néerlandais, near the Assemblée Nationale, 121 rue de Lille 75007, through March 20th, Tuesday to Friday 1 p.m.- 7 p.m. Or else fly in from New York, it’s worth it!
[Editor's note: One final link to the past, I developed a slight crush on Pierre's grandmother while editing the piece and I had to share with you this adorable clipping I discovered about her taken from The Montreal Gazette on 27 November 1964. I adore the writing style of fashion journalists of the era, my favorite part is when Madame Chardin admits that her newest hair style, while all the rage, may not be very practical but it is "so chic," spoken like a true Parisienne!]
Sacha : Photographe de mode images courtesy of amazon.com.
Text and photographs of Thérèse Chardin © 2011 Pierre-Alban HF. All Rights Reserved.
dimanche 13 février 2011 
