Elizabeth Fraser-Bell guest fashion directs the Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of the Paris-based publication – which was, she tells AnOther, an opportunity for her and her collaborators to create freely
Unbridled creative freedom is a rare luxury in today’s magazine landscape which is, necessarily and understandably, scoped by brand and advertising commitments. But Magazine Magazine, co-founded by current editor-in-chief Angelo Cirimele in 1999, is a publication apart – a breath of fresh air, a plane of innovation in the industry in that it offers total carte blanche to a creative to curate its fashion section. For Issue N°42 A/W24, stylist and creative director Elizabeth Fraser-Bell took the helm, working with a team of new talent to develop a dynamic new tome.
The issue has been in the works since September 2023 when Fraser-Bell first met with Cirimele. “I had been looking for a space to be able to curate again,” she reflects, “and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so with complete freedom.” The creative director generously used the latitude offered to her to showcase young talent from across the UK and Europe who aren’t necessarily “widely represented in the grand scheme of the industry”. “I spent some time researching and developing the curation of [the newer talent],” she explains, “and there were also people I had met years ago and still hadn’t had the space to work with them again, so this was just the perfect fit.”
In keeping with the unrestrained energy of Magazine Magazine, Fraser-Bell gave each photographer free rein to create. In the striking cover ‘hair story’ Off Screen – shot by Inigo Awewave and styled by Vincent Pons – hairstylist Claire Grech was also encouraged to dream fully. “It was very important to me that with each commission, I gave the photographer, and in Claire’s case, the hair stylist, freedom to do something they couldn’t do for another platform,” she says. “This was all just an opportunity for all of us to create freely.” Other contributions include a story from Rebekka Deubner of Ponte’s last collection shot on family and friends, as well as editorials from Anton Gottlob, Maxime Bony, and Jessica Madavo.
But where Fraser-Bell magnificently plays with the conventions (or lack thereof) of editorial is through the issue’s second cover story, Objet Trouvé, in which each look was created by the stylist, alongside photographer Darren Gwynn, using only objects and materials found on set. “When I spoke to Darren about shooting something, the first thing he said was, ‘Let’s just make stuff. No clothes, no rules, no advertisers. Just stuff’,” she recalls. Red cord is wrapped as corsetry around a torso, bubble wrap crowned as a headpiece, and sponges assembled as sandals.
And it was thanks to this shoot – and the general team synergy palpable throughout the issue – that the stylist garnered the confidence to shoot her first story as a photographer – a Bottega Veneta special. “Being pushed out of my comfort by Darren was exactly what was needed – both for the magazine and for myself!”
Magazine Magazine Issue N°42, with guest fashion director Elizabeth Fraser-Bell, is available now for purchase via the publication’s website as well as through a selection of stockists across the UK and Europe.
