Exclusive: More Pics and the Story Behind Kendall’s “Nude” Shoot
bs speaks.
Since the images of Love’s curve-tastic new Steven Klein spread (dubbed, succinctly, “Boobs”) first broke, there’s been a lot of speculation. Was it PH๏τoshop wizardry writ large? The answer came today from on high: silicone, a lot of it, courtesy of Hollywood prosthetics wizards Tinsley Studios. Style.com caught up with the man behind the shoot, influential London stylist and Love fashion director Panos Yiapanis, to talk about the concept, the execution, and the cup size.
What was your initial reaction to the concept?
It was kind of something that I’d wanted to do for a while. I’d done a shoot in the past with fat suits, and it led me to this, especially lately with this obsession with a new body shape. I kind of wanted to question how valid that is for designers, whether it’s just a stunt or if it’s a true shift. We’re so accustomed to the shape that’s been on the runway for the past 20 years that I don’t know how honest this new, more curvaceous figure is as an intention. It seems a bit like a publicity stunt. So I wanted to overdo it, and when Katie [Grand] told me that she was going to shoot Kim [Kardashian West], I thought this was the perfect chance to do this idea that I’d been wanting to do. A lot of designers seem to be courting people like Kim, but at the same time the clothes that they make still don’t really fit that body, unless they’re custom-made. There’s a slight insincerity to that.
Did you notice a shift in the way the models acted once they were wearing the prosthetics?
Oh, definitely! The body language changed, the way they stand changed. Someone like Caroline [Trentini] is an extreme pro, but her whole body movement became much more Sєxual, and much more coquettish at the same time. As soon as the breasts and bum came on, it was a different woman, and I think they kind of enjoyed that feeling of having that silhouette for a while.
Did you have the same approach to styling this as you would a “normal” shoot?
No, the styling was much less important for this shoot. The only important thing was to show how the clothes don’t actually fit those bodies, that there was no way to get those samples around those breasts. Usually with my shoots there’s a more elaborate fashion concept, but not this one. It was about the body shape that I wanted to create, and maybe slightly, slightly take it to the point of vulgarity as well.
It’s been really interesting to hear the reactions to these pH๏τos.
Yeah, it was fun to see how people initially thought it was nudity, then it was PH๏τoshop. It didn’t cross anyone’s minds that these were prosthetics. I don’t know how anyone could PH๏τoshop something into those proportions.
What was the actual application of the prosthetics like? Was it a huge, time-consuming process?
No, the only thing is that they were made of silicone, so after a few hours, they kind of start to droop. We’d have to switch pairs and put them in the fridge. They were huge. They were even bigger than DDDs, they were as big as we could get them made. I designed them so they were attached to a bra that was also made of silicone.
