The young Swiss-Guinean photographer has set her sights on the fashion world with an incredible spread commissioned by New York Magazine’s style blog, The Cut. New York’s editors approached Leuba about being part of their Out of the Box series. They sent Leuba a huge crate of fall knits, ranging from Carven sweaters to Thom Browne jackets. Leuba, who describes herself as a “tinkerer,” recruited women off the streets of Paris to stand as models (she even stands in for a few of the shots), and set about designing detailed scenographies for each garment. “A photo takes me a while, because I think about the composition, the background, and what I’m going to put in,” she tells The Cut. Each image is the result of hours of styling, stretching and distorting the pieces to fit her vision with planks of wood, plastic packaging, broom heads, and spray paint. Leuba has traded traditional Guinean costumes for $800 jackets, but her vision remains largely the same. “Each of the women in these images represent African statuettes, but using a high-fashion aesthetic,” she says. Each photograph contains its own narrative. Covered in neon warpaint, carrying symbolic props, her subjects look more like religious icons than models. In one shot, the models’ feet are wrapped in cloth–”to prevent their power from escaping,” she explains. In another, Leuba models a rainbow striped dress, her face covered in cloth and a mohawk jutting from her head, saying, “it’s a ‘punk’ statuette.” Check out the full spread, plus Leuba’s explanations, over on “The Cut”. For more information about Leuba or to get in touch with her, just follow the link bellow.
