Karl Lagerfeld’s Ode to Helmut Newton, Purple Magazine

Purple magazine is not stranger to controversies and pushing buttons, but this editorial is beyond notorious.

Supermodel Baptiste Giabiconi poses for Karl Lagerfeld in hardly anything than killer high heels, super tight pants, and in one incident, only a denim jacket. The story behind this editorial is that Purple magazine editor Oliver Zahm asked Lagerfeld to shoot a tribute for late legendary photographer, Helmut Newton. But Lagerfeld wanted to use a man instead of a woman, so Zahm gladly replied “Okay, you shoot a man, but as a Helmut Newton woman!“. And so, Lagerfeld chose (as always) Baptiste Giabiconi, dressing the model sensation in high heels and clothes (hardly!) by Chanel, Tom Ford, Maison Martin Margiela, Givenchy, Dior Homme and Kris van Assche.

Oliver Zahm states “For the shoot the three of us journeyed to Karl’s house in Saint Tropez, then to Venice, and then back again to Paris. The challenge was to forget about Helmut Newton’s fascinating pictures, yet revive their secretive and troubling essence. Only Karl’s vision and and obsession could achieve this“.