“Supermodels are sort of the thing of the past,” Stephanie Seymour told Vanity Fair earlier this year, arguing that today’s top models — namely Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid — “need their own title” (perhaps jokingly, she landed on “bitches of the moment”). Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford have also shared their thoughts on how profoundly fashion’s landscape has shifted since they’ve stepped off the runway. Though Jenner and Hadid enjoy a similar rockstar status outside the fashion world, just as their model predecessors did in the 90s, the “supermodel” era is not only over, it’s historically fixed. It’s pre 9/11, smoke-where-you-want, black-and-white film, twirl on the runway, cell phone-less. Supermodels at the End of Time, a unique collaboration between photographer Miles Ladin and author Bret Easton Ellis, provides a different kind of window into it — one that blends spontaneous documentary with fragments of fashion world fiction.
The limited-edition artist’s book collects work Ladin shot while on assignment for Women’s Wear Daily and W Magazine in the 90s — candid black-and-white images of Campbell, Crawford, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Lauren Hutton, Iman, and Christy Turlington at the Met Gala and CFDA Awards. During the same time, the eternally provocative Ellis published Glamorama, a searing and sardonic portrait of celebrity culture — one based on the reality Ladin captured behind-the-scenes at fashion’s most elite fêtes. Supermodels at the End of Time unites these visions; excerpts of Ellis’s text accompany each of Ladin’s photographs. We see Campbell backstage at Isaac Mizrahi, Chloë Sevigny pleading with paparazzi, and Iman dancing at the Seventh on Sale benefit bash.
Tonight in New York, Station Independent Projects will exhibit Supermodels at the End of Time‘s photographs alongside copies of the publication. The exhibition runs until October 30; more information here.
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Photography Miles Ladin