A fortnight ago, as fashion week was just beginning to whip New York into a frenzy, Opening Ceremony played host to a one-night-only exhibition of photographs; a collaboration between Australian label DAISY, and photographers Moni Haworth and Petra Collins — who was, on this occasion, in front of the lens.
DAISY outfitted Petra in their new season, Heavenly Bodies, a romantic collection of delicate babydolls, sheer slips and teasing athleisure; evoking Hitchcock’s heroines, Renaissance noblewomen and Calabasas debutantes in equal measure. Petra and Moni spent some time at West Hollwood’s Chateau Marmot, where the portraits that make up the exhibition were photographed. They also fill the pages of a zine — limited edition, available only on the night of the event. It was a neat role reversal, Petra now wearing DAISY, after photographing Kim Kardashian, the most famous woman in the world, in the indie label for Wonderland.
Here, we speak with the DAISY team as they offer an i-D a preview of the beautiful, eerie portraits.
How did this whole project with Petra and Moni come to be?
We bumped into Petra at a party early this year and became friends. We started working on custom looks for different projects she was shooting, like the recent cover-story with Kim Kardashian. She was visiting Moni in LA, they’re longtime friends — I think the first time we ever saw Petra was actually a shoot she’d done with Moni for Johnny’s Bird. They’re such an iconic duo. They spent an afternoon together at Chateau Marmont shooting Heavenly Bodies, it was completely spontaneous. You can see their closeness and ease in the intimacy of the project.
And how do you manage the collaboration from opposite ends of the world?
It’s so easy, we DM each other at 3AM in opposite time-zones. It’s nice to find new friends that feel like old friends.
What do you admire about Petra?
Petra is effortless. It’s fresh to see someone relax in the often overthought world of fashion.
I know you shoot all your imagery in house — what’s it like handing over the reigns in a sense, seeing another photographer interpret the collection, creating their own little DAISY world?
We really love and appreciate seeing DAISY through someone else’s eyes. It’s the way we feel about DAISYGIRLS as well, watching things evolve and go unexpected places. It’s been surreal working with Moni and Petra, being such admirers of theirs. They really captured something special.
