Image: A scene from Zoolander. Creative Commons.
As the fashion industry soldiers through September, marching from New York to London to Milan and on to Paris, we’re sneaking behind the catwalks and browsing behind the scenes in our archives. Try on these five international samples for size:
Behind the Scenes in Indonesia
A harried Jakarta advertising casting director wrangles bookers, agents, models, photographers, and others while trying to lasso his sexual anxiety, in Syahmedi Dean’s “Snacks in the Fashion Pages.”
Image: Diana Eng's Fairytale Fashion Show in NYC, 2010. Photograph by See-ming Lee. Creative Commons.
Makeshift Chic in Belgium
A Moroccan diplomat in Belgium turns the theft of his garments into a gift for negotiations in Fouad Laroui’s “The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers.”
Image: Pitti Uomo 88, 2016. Photograph by Gol Dugusl Noorsoi. Creative Commons.
Secondhand Style in Kosovo
A cynical Kosovo woman and her mother recycle used clothes for new clients in Milica Mićić Dimovska’s “Boutique Cinderella.”
Image: Vintage clothing store in Phnom Penh. Photograph by Anilakeo. Wikimedia Commons.
Holiday Garb in Egypt
A weary Cairene seamstress struggles to meet the holiday demands of both her clientele and her children in Na’am al-Baz’s “Mrs. Saniya’s Holiday.”
Image: Bazar in Isfahan. Photograph by Paul Keller. Creative Commons.
Outmoded in Germany
And a retired furrier finds herself the victim of a misplaced political act in Uwe Timm’s “The Coat.”
Image: Fur fashion show in Frankfurt, 1978. Photograph by Kurt Lindermann. Wikimedia Commons.
