The Barbican Centre Photoshoot

When Nature Encounters Modernism

We are very excited to share some behind the scenes from our early summer 19 photoshoot. The theme was Nature and Modernism – contemporary shapes, elegance, natural materials and simplicity that inspire us to create.

The Location

For our shoot, we chose The Barbican Estate- a residential estate that was built between the 1960s and the 1980s within the City of London in Central London, an area once devastated by World War II bombings. The complex is one of the best examples of British Brutalist architecture, described by Queen Elizabeth as “one of the modern wonders of the world”. With its heavy concrete surfaces, elevated gardens, idyllic lakes and striking towers, The Barbican Estate offers a new, unique vision. It offers a new dimension to nature in  spaces where it seems to have no place. However nature manages to grow in the most unexpected places – finding a path through cement as if recovering its own habitat.

The Model

Our aim was to keep the model’s mood and look very natural. We cast the lovely Marta Jacquier for the shoot and she had a wonderful feel on camera; relaxed, fresh and real.

Featuring our favourite styles

This time we chose to explore the connection between design, architecture and nature understanding how they work with each other. Our shooting locations within The Barbican Center were chosen to best represent our styles. For example, with style Hudson we selected a grey and white geometrical background that fits perfectly with the elegance of the dress.

Apollo dress was shot to demonstrate the  direct connection with the Natural world. We chose to combine white with green in order to convey the purity of these two colours and their brilliant pairing with geometrical and organic shapes. We wanted to convey the fresh, light and minimal style that stands up for the comfort. And our model Marta looks simply gorgeous in it!

Style Britt is the shape of the Elegance. The shooting location was a mix of the fresh feeling of green colours and the grey background of a heavy and full concrete tower. It is about balancing both aspects of fashion – feeling always natural and secure. That is why Britt is for those who are willing to trust that balance is possible.

For Fritz and Gibby we considered the warm colour of the styles and felt they would work best with a reflecting background. We aimed to use as much natural light as possible and fortunately with this look it was easy to achieve. The pieces were shining for themselves, and a textured wall added even more interest to the shot.

See the new collection here! Don’t forget to show us how you style your Les 100 Ciels items by tagging us on Instagram @les100ciels and using the hashtag #myles100ciels!