Capturing the models and muses of Christian Dada

Last week saw rebellious Japanese brand Christian Dada debut its SS17 collection at Paris Fashion Week – a show designer Masanori Morikawa said was inspired by male music icons Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. Drawing inspiration from their style, he incorporated elements of military uniforms into the range, along with written phrases like “Imagine” or “Don’t Make Any Noise”.

To model the collection, stylist Anna Pesonen (who dressed Anohni for the cover of our spring/summer 2016 issue) enlisted a mix of agency-signed boys and streetcast models, captured here in a series of Polaroids taken behind-the-scenes at the show.

“What’s always important is to have familiar faces and friends around and that really makes the whole experience special to me,” she explains. “This time, my friends Miles Felix & Rei Delos-Reyes (Tomorrow Is Another Day) were hanging out at the studio when they weren’t at castings, and that to me is a sign of a cool, welcoming atmosphere – and it’s important to have that when you’re working on a show.”

“We had lot of fun while casting and on the show day too – the atmosphere backstage was really chilled, it was a hot sunny day so the models spent most of their time on the balcony on top of Palais De Tokyo, facing the Tour Eiffel. Masanori (Zoo) Morikawa had designed a women’s collection too and we wanted to show few looks, but just on one girl. We wanted to have Hayett McCarthy (IMG) because she’s also a friend and has such presence – it was cool to do a show together.”

Head to the gallery above to see Polaroids from behind-the-scenes at the show, and the one below for more backstage photos.