World in motion!

By Alex Fury, 20:29 Mon 06 Jul 2009

There's no missing the archaic, arcane and extravagant selection of accessories Simon Foxton has chosen to accompany this season's more conventional high fashion looks for this VMAN shoot. These come courtesy of Michael Costiff, punk icon, set designer and covetous collector of some of the world's most fabulous fashion artefacts (check his awe-inspiring archive of early Vivienne Westwood, now in the V&A). For this shoot, Simon has drawn from Costiff's World Archive - a collection of jewellery and adornment which defines the term eclectic. As the name suggests, Costiff's collection reflects the aesthetic whims of the entire world: silvered brooches in the shapes of hands recall deities of the Indian subcontinent, Maori chains jostle with Masaai necklaces alongside strings of feathers, shells and beads ready to suspend from neck, lobe and lapel. Fabulously varied and even more fabulously exclusive - these pieces are rarely loaned out for photographic shoots. But of course the charming Simon Foxton is a rare talent indeed (luckily for us!). Judge the results for yourselves in the final VMAN 15 images - the unretouched originals of which are lurking in our project gallery.