Call me a romantic if you will, but there’s something that I find especially appealing about late night museum openings (maybe it’s reading too much Umberto Eco?), and I’m particularly looking forward to the Late Shift at the National Portrait Gallery on Friday 11 February. Nine portraits by Rankin of nine models who challenge the typical image of a fashion model in nine designs by fashion luminaries such as Dame Vivienne Westwood.
It’s called Snapped and it’s on for one night only at the NPG. You get to wander around the NPG and gaze upon these pictures beside the more traditional portraits of, say, Elizabeth I or Mary Wollstonecraft. It’s been curated by All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, a group trying to make everyone, from those who work in the fashion industry to those who follow fashion, think about models, and the idea of beauty, differently.
If you want, you can take that debate further by attending the panel discussion ‘Has Fashion Imagery become the lens by which we evaluate identity?’ It’ll be chaired by Caryn Franklin and its speakers include Erin O’Connor, Lorraine Candy who edits ELLE Magazine, Lynne Featherstone MP, Minister of Equalities and co-founder of Body Campaign, as well as psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos. Given my opinions on all of this, you can imagine I might have a question or two…
There will be a room of models from All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, too, just in case you fancy turning your hand to fashion photography.
It’ll be one way to spend a Friday night, anyway.
Snapped shows on Friday 11 February 2011 from 18:00 to 22:00 at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE.