On the 18th and 19th July 2002 a host of fashion designers, models, stylists, celebrities and performers gathered at a West London studio to stage an ambitious and unprecedented fashion event. Taking the metamorphic potential of fashion imagery as their point of departure, and then following this through to its wildest extremes, photographer Nick Knight, stylists Simon Foxton and Jonathan Kaye and hair stylist Sam McKnight invited a global audience 'on set' to watch the preparation and execution of sixteen fantastical fashion stories broadcast live, via Webcams, on SHOWstudio. Ranging from transitions in gender, size, race or even species, each spectacular transformation was monitored from three perspectives, via the Webcam trained on the studio, via the camera broadcasting what transpired on stage and via one documenting the development of each 'shot' on the Polaroid board.
These three viewpoints have been captured to create a groundbreaking new project, which reveals the working processes at the heart of the contemporary fashion shoot for the first time. In two films drawn from the Webcam footage, watch the models arrive, the stylists work and the celebrities socialize as the sixteen amazing fashion stories unfold. Video footage has been edited to show exactly what went on in front of Nick Knight's camera in four compelling short films. Animations of the final Polaroid images show the evolution of each resultant story and, when juxtaposed with the films, they demonstrate how the photographer makes his ultimate selection of what to omit or record.
> Images
View animations of the final Polaroid images showing the evolution of each story.
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> Movies
View four selected film shorts including transformations from Erin O'Connor, Katy England & Bobby Gillespie and Alexander McQueen.
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> Webcam
Transformer was broadcast live via three webcams. Click here to view the resulting timelapse sequences.
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> Text
Shaun Cole explores the 'cultural construction of gender' in his essay, 'Don't know if You're a Boy or a Girl'.
> Comments
Throughout Transformer SHOWstudio viewers were invited to send their comments and questions direct to the studio floor. Click here to read the transcribed exchange.
> Credits
Read project, cast and clothes credits.