Interview

Fashion is a fantasy factory. But while editorial wizards sprinkle fairy-dust on the clothes with the imaginative romps they make on magazine pages, for most people the magic remains 2D. Now Nick Knight strives to change that by offering die-hard fans of fashion the chance to purchase more than just the garments themselves. As the director of SHOWstudio, Knight pushed back the curtain to make the fashion photography process into part of the fantasy with his on-line broadcasts, experimental interactive projects, networking, films and live performances that enlisted the likes of Kate Moss, Gareth Pugh, Alexander McQueen, Brad Pitt, Tracey Emin, and Coco Rocha. These collaborations will continue with SHOWstudio's first 3D shop, located in London at 1-9 Bruton Place, a iconic white space whose past lives include being a barn, a brothel, the prestigious Timothy Taylor Gallery and Maison Martin Margiela. Now the bright, white gallery-like space houses a poodle marionette created for Karen Elson to pose with in a British Vogue editorial, paper mache animal heads featured in the Autumn/Winter 2007 Christian Dior Haute Couture show at the Chateau de Versailles and a denim jacket made in 1988 by Simon Foxton exclusively for a shoot Knight did with i-D. Unquestionably, the bricks-and-mortar reality is set to be the stuff of dreams, so rush there and take home a souvenir.