Angela Silva

Art Direction, Styling

I am working to develop the identity of an emerging leather goods label hoping to define itself through craftsmanship, quality and vintage design inspiration.

I wanted to place the leather pieces in a compelling context by creating a series of impressionistic scenes that would capture moments with a contrast of candidness and romantic staging. I found inspiration in early Kodachrome photographs from the 1940s, in which the vibrant color makes the subject matter feel startlingly realistic and yet mysteriously displaced in time.

The products are so much about contrast—for example, the washing and distressing of a premium leather—that the shots needed to support that idea: contrived and natural, gritty and lush, old and new.

Art Direction / Design / Product Styling

The design of the Madewell SS09 Lookbook supported the realistic, candid quality of the images. Every design decision was based on economy and function, including a photocopied line sheet insert and a cover that can be addressed, sealed and mailed directly.

Art Direction / Design / Styling of Products and Models

To make the studio shots for this lookbook more interesting, we projected soft, abstracted architectural silhouettes across the set and onto the models. To relate the images to the design of the lookbook, one of the projections was die cut onto the cover, hinting at the source of the abstracted shapes that would appear inside.