Russian model Zen covers our fashion special, featuring the A/W12 collections and the biggest girls of the moment
Feed Your Head with the Dazed & Confused July issue – featuring a 'literary playlist' of music-inspired short stories as well as the best of the brand-new Autumn/Winter 12 collections, seen in the magazine for the first time. The clothes are worn by the hottest girls of the moment; fashion director Karen Langley's shoot with Yelena Yemchuk in Kiev features Laura Kampman, fresh out of her Steven Meisel exclusive, exploring the photographer's hometown as a Bowiesque heroine in glam tailoring. Whilst Tilda Lindstam dons the results of Louis Vuitton's Yayoi Kusama collaboration and we speak to Marc Jacobs about the project.
Cora Emmanuel, Katryn Kruger, Mackenzie Drazan, Madison Headrick, Maria Bradley and Zen are shot by Kacper Kasprzyk and styled by senior fashion editor Robbie Spencer, in a suited play-off between masculinity and femininity, as Zen bags the cover. Cast for Preen A/W12 by Dazed's casting director, AM Casting's Noah Shelley, she has skyrocketed since, walking Pringle of Scotland, Prada, Haider Ackermann, Costume National, Hermès and Chanel. Dazed Digital caught up with Zen to talk the rush of catwalking and her hidden artistic and culinary talents.
Dazed Digital: Congratulations on your first Dazed cover! Do you have a favourite memory from the shoot you did with Robbie Spencer and Kacper Kasprzyk?
Zen: Thank you so much! It's an honour. To be honest with you the whole shoot was my favorite moment... They are a great team together, very creative, very bold and spontaneous but at the same time they are good hearted people that make you feel welcome. They inspired me to be myself and follow my instincts as a strong woman secure in her femininity wearing masculine clothes.
DD: You took the runways by storm for Autumn/Winter 12. What do you think about when you walk a runway? Do you enjoy the rush?
Zen: I enjoy the rush very much, but it requires me to go "in the zone" of supreme awareness and concentration. I realise the responsibility upon my shoulders to deliver designer's creations to the audience while staying true to their vision, and I love every minute of it. When I catwalk I don't think, I just am.
DD: This issue is the Feed Your Head issue – the best new fashion and literature. What inspires you?
Zen: The world around me, human behaviour, travelling. Artists like Egon Schiele, Salvador Dalí, Matisse, Cézanne, Darger, Picasso, Klimt, Toulouse Lautrec, Gauguin, Grey, Basquiat, Van Gogh, Louise Bourgeois, Goya, Balthus and also Da Vinci for amazing sketches of the human form. When I need inspiration I look for them in museums around the world or in art books. Also literature; Russian classics, world classics, biographies, psychology, spiritual literature, various religions, erotic novels and do-it-yourself books. When I hit an artistic wall I often ask a question and the answer always comes in the shape of a sign, person or experience.
DD: What is your hidden talent?
Zen: I paint and draw, remake my clothes but that slowly is becoming less hidden. I am good at massage and basic reflexology. Also my improvisations in the kitchen (when I have time) have been warmly welcomed.
CREDITS
Photography Kacper Kasprzyk
Styling Robbie Spencer
Hair Akki using Y.S Park
Make-up Alice Lane at Jed Root
Models Cora Emmanuel at Ford NY, Katryn Kruger and Zen at IMG, Mackenzie Drazan and Madison Headrick at Marilyn, Maria Bradley at DNA
Photographic Assistants Nicholas Ong, Emilio Hernandez, James Giles
Styling Assistants Daniel Edley, Elizabeth Fraser-Bell, Shawana Grosvenor
Hair Assistant Reona Den
Make-up Assistant Tayler Treadwell
Digital Operator Joseph Borduin
Casting Noah Shelley for AM Casting
Get your new issue HERE. Dazed & Confused Archive: The entire 20-year history of Dazed & Confused is now available on Exact Editions.
