EN VIE MAGAZINE: Serge de Nîmes - Fashion Editorial

A published fashion editorial in En Vie Magazine's June 2020 issue based on Serge de Nîmes, the birthplace of denim.

Female model posing in a gold studded denim dress — En Vie Magazine Editorial - June 2020: Serge de Nimes - Gold Studded Denim Dress

My Role

■ Stylist

Team

■ Creative Director: Carmen Vars

■ Photographer: Benjamin Kwan

■ Makeup: Natasha Dales

■ Hair: Bruno Duarte

■ Model: Mariah Fulton

This was an editorial shoot organized by my school under their program BYOB: Build Your Own Book. This program picks the top students from Fashion, Makeup and Hair Artistry to collectively style a professional editorial. The theme for this shoot was Serge de N î mes, the birthplace of denim.

Nîmes is a southern city in France that used to produce denim in the 18th and 19th century. During the height of the industry, thousand of people would crouch along the river that flowed through the streets of Nîmes to dye cotton, wool and silk. Serge was what they called their sturdy cotton fabric that were exported to North America, thus Serge de Nîmes - Serge from Nîmes.

Eventually, Levi Strauss came across them in the 1860s and created the first pair of jeans from the fabric that he renamed as denim.

Today, denim is no longer made in Nîmes. The textile industry there had vanished along with the river, and now blue jeans are associated with North Americans.

This editorial was published in the June 2020 issue of En Vie Magazine - a Japanese fashion periodical.

All the garments and accessories that I had used were vintage and upcycled. Specifically, the Gold Studded Jean Dress and the Jean Shorts with Macrame inserts were pieces that I repurposed. I had added the gold studs onto the jean dress to make it more luxurious. Whereas the jean shorts I knotted the macrame insert to give it an artisanal and boho look.

Archived photos below.