Fumiko Imano, the artist so nice they created her twice. Or, at least, she created herself twice? In her photography work, Fumiko splices in her “twin sister” into each picture. Her work is super fun, totally cute and gorgeously surreal. Last season, she created a lookbook for Loewe, featuring Saskia De Brauw, which she shot at the UNESCO building in Paris.
For autumn/winter 18, Fumiko and her twin sister have returned to the UNESCO building in Paris, this time joined by the wonderful Liya Kebede, and Jonathan Anderson, who makes a brief cameo appearance. There are also horses. It’s very beautiful. We sent Fumiko a little email to have a chat about it all.
Hey Fumiko, you’re working with Loewe again. What’s the best thing about Loewe?
The best thing is the TEAM! It’s such a good team; Jonathan Anderson, M/M Paris, Benjamin Bruno… Then there is the production team, the assistants, and everyone in studio. I like working with them a lot. And the clothes are great quality, too!
And this time you were working with Liya Kebede — what was she like?
Liya was really kind and cool. I watched her movie Desert Flower on an airplane a year ago, and saw her at the spring/summer 18 Loewe show, so I felt like it was kind of a happy coincidence taking pictures with her. I was excited.
What’s this shoot all about then?
The story we’re telling this time is about the twins giving Liya a tour of the UNESCO building. The collection is so elegant and chic that the twins themselves had to be more chic and serious than usual, but still have their signature sense of humour. You know, it’s kind of the same way filmmaker Jacques Tati approached his films.
Who has more fun on set, you or your twin sister?
It’s such a big duty and a lot of work to shoot, pose and do everything, so both of the twins worked hard but had fun at lunch time!
Jonathan says you can keep one piece of clothing from the collection for yourself — which piece and why?
From the autumn/winter 18 collection, I think these two looks are really my favourite, because I think they’d really suit me. I would wear one for formal occasions and the other every day!
