Scènes de mode, Ouka Lele pour Philippe Model

In 1988, the exhibition Scènes de mode, Ouka Lele pour Philippe Model brought together 29 Polaroid photographs by Ouka Lele and fashion accessory designer Philippe Model. The photographer and the designer combined their inspiration and talent, exchanging ideas and developing their fondness for setting the stage for their creations. While Philippe Model created a sophisticated design around Ouka Lele’s work, she constructed a contrasting set of portraits and still lifes featuring the designer’s fashion accessories. Thanks to the biggest Polaroïd chamber in Europe, which produces giant 50 × 60 cm shots, the Madrid-born artist conceived this fine set of images, where enigmatic female faces sporting hats alongside still-life pictures of shoes, bags and gloves compose a surreal kind of fashion show that is not devoid of humor. The exhibition catalog published by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain for the occasion retraces this colorful collaboration in pictures.