Images courtesy of Hugo Comte Studios
Photographer Hugo Comte has been on a roll with his extracurricular activities as of late but his latest venture is a fulfillment of a past desire. When he was studying architecture in his early 20s, Comte started to design clothing before photography, with the desire to interpret his images onto apparel. Fast forward to the present and he has self-actualized the vision into his latest venture titled, Dear Nikita, a knitwear capsule collection designed by Comte and British designer Lois Saunders of 1xBlue. The pairing happened organically with a reach-out from Comte to Saunders who has amassed a cult following with her risque knitwear designs after graduating last year. Punchy coloring meets abstract, painterly branding with a touch of cheek; and star cutouts that may or may not free the nipple. This on the heels of a new TESTAMENT exhibition with Ib Kamara showing in Paris until the 26th, launched in conjunction with a ETH proprietary digital token called $Nikita , adds to an already full plate of visual work. Ranging from £15-£240, the 12 piece collection is currently available to purchase and Models.com briefly spoke to the creative about the collaboration, referencing the Y2K era, and creating clothes to serve the image.
Images courtesy of Hugo Comte Studios
How did you first come across Lois’ work and how did the collaboration first come about?
I had been thinking about how to translate my images into fashion design and had started doing a couple of sketches and putting together some ideas when I first came across Lois’ work. I was trying to develop a way to translate my world into fashion with different things, and when I saw Lois’ work, I really liked the way she translated images into patterns and knitwear which felt super pop and impactful. Lois is very strong in how she creates those visuals in the clothes which are very sexy, and I love her approach to the body, which is why I thought we would work well together. We met, and at first, I think she was surprised about me approaching her, but it all happened so organically and we bounced ideas off of each other and the process came very quickly and naturally from there.
What do you love most about color in the capsule collection?
The colour palette of this collection is the best way to translate the intention. It really shows the desire of pop and youth from referencing the early 2000s. There is a reference to the rave scene with very garage, sexy clothes, and super bright and pop colours. One of my favourite combinations is the pink, red and yellow together or the blue and yellow with the two faces facing each other. We wanted to make something very impactful visually, with a pop graphic and almost violent in the colour combinations.
Images courtesy of Hugo Comte Studios
As a photographer, why was it important to flex another creative muscle in fashion design? How have you used the experience to understand the process of making fashion?
It is important for me to create images that are very unique and close to my vision and in order to reach this precision, I felt the need to be at the source of the content which is the clothes. I love diving into a designer’s vision and translating their intentions, but for me, my work is portraying and picturing this very precise vision of women and this unique character that I try to depict in each image I create. Having the opportunity of imagining what she is wearing and create those pieces with Lois was really the key to defining this character so precisely. It’s almost like cinema or art photography, creating the clothes to serve the image and feel reflects a lot the way that fashion perception is moving. In general, it’s all about architecture and design, the idea of structure and atmosphere which was my first background. Designing clothes was the first way I wanted to translate my architectural mindset, even before photography. Fashion is an intimate architecture. It’s like having the house living on you, which is how I explain the bridge between fashion and architecture, and I wanted to create clothes that reflect this vision of architecture that I have
Images courtesy of Hugo Comte Studios
