Study is a quarterly magazine launched last year by Christopher Niquet, each issue of which is dedicated to a specific theme related to him, including the work of playwright Adrienne Kennedy, stylist Camille Bidault-Waddington, the photography of model Vivienne Rohner, and even more atmospheric subjects, such as New York homes, or Dhaka architecture through photography, as seen through the eyes of architect Romain Laprade. The latest edition of “On Models as Cultural Markers” is inspired by the work of casting director Dominique Winant, who worked with Martine Sitbon, Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela and Yohji Yamamoto in the 1990s. “Designers are known for trying to create a completely different universe in their shows, reflecting their own communities as well as their specific place in the world.” Winant began working in public relations, first as an assistant to Alexander de Betak and later opening the first Carla Otto office in Paris; She became a casting director “by chance”;
“The way I got into fashion was really just following my instincts without any plan,” Winant explains via Zoom from Paris. “It’s really the story of my life and the people I met, and when I was young I was lucky enough to meet Margiela and walk for him and then work with him, so she never really chose the latest, greatest, it-model, or the model who fits the most straightforward “beauty” category, but rather look for women whose personalities, specific “energy” matches each designer. In the latest issue of Study, her Polaroid photos float on white paper, and the models’ gaze draws you in, as if you were in a museum. Winant often talks about emotions when describing her work, and it’s impossible not to feel something when looking at her images. For those of us who grew up looking at catwalk photos and fashion magazines, they were also faces that defined a specific type of womanhood and femininity, their unearthly beauty and, it must be said, their aura reminding us that another way of life is possible.
After backing out in recent years, Winant is casting for Yohji Yamamoto’s Paris show this season. We spoke two days before the show.
How did you work on this research issue?
Christopher is a friend. We met a long time ago in the fashion industry and he was always curious about my Polaroids, I always told him that one day I would write a book. He contacted me through Instagram last February – I’m really old-school, I only started using Instagram two years ago because people said if you want to get back into fashion, you have to get involved. So I put little things on there that said, “Okay, I’m here.” So he contacted me and said, “Do you still have the Polaroids?” because I wanted to do something with my studies.
What was your process like for editing the Polaroids that appear in this issue?
I actually asked Christopher to do it. He’s a good friend and I trust him completely. I had boxes and everything was well sorted by name and model, so it was really easy. He came to visit me in Marseille. He chose what he liked and came back to Paris.
Do they bring back memories for you when you see them?
The memories are really the energy of the girls. When I was doing these castings, Martin [Margiela] really cared about the energy of the girls and the story. But it’s also about the clothes – the woman is important, but the clothes have to work perfectly on the catwalk. Working with Margiela is very specific – it’s the way they walk, their bodies, the way they walk when they’re “hidden”. It’s an energy, a grace, perfect, without a name.
In your magazine conversation with Rachel Chandler, you mentioned connecting with Ann and Martin through music, and I realized that your work is about emotions in some ways. It’s all about connecting people.
Yeah, it’s very emotional. Sometimes that’s part of the problem because when I work with people it can be very emotional and fashion is a business. It’s always been a business, but now it’s moving faster. Now that I’m back doing the Yohji women’s show, I realize how much has changed. There’s no time to be emotional, and there’s no time to do nothing. We were really doing it with a lot of emotion at that time, and that’s probably why it really made an impact. It’s not a business plan, it’s not about, “How many followers does this girl have, how many influencers do we have?” It’s really about the connection, “Oh this girl is like Debbie Harry, oh that” bit Patti Smith.
Are you giving up casting altogether, or are you being more selective about the work you take on?
I took several steps back because I am a really emotional person and very sensitive. At one point I started having a lot of trouble when people asked me, “Do you have a stylist?” Who is in your lineup? What girls did you bring in? I’m doing great casting, I don’t have to ask people who I’m casting and this and that. That was also around 2010-2015 when I gave birth to a child, my mom wasn’t well and she passed away. So I thought, “Okay, let’s do more family business and less fashion business.” So I started focusing more on menswear casting. I really like doing men’s fashion shows because it’s still cool and it doesn’t have all the other stuff around it.
Now you’re back for the Yohji Yamamoto Women’s Show.
Yes, I’m back with the Yohji show, and it’s a really good story, and that’s the end of it. I started working with Yohji in 1992 or 1993 and I continued working with him until 2000, mainly on special casting and “special research.” That was a long time ago. So he called me in to find the women, which was really cool because I’d never been a woman for him before, so that was fun. I know this house really well. It’s still very difficult because the industry is still the industry and, as we said, we had Nina Ricci and Giambattista Valli before our show, so there’s still a lot to do, but I’m happy. I watched it with my assistant and I thought, “Wow, this is great casting.” A lot of it was about finding new faces and I loved it.
