15 by Corrine Day featuring Kate Moss

When I found out that the original prints of Fifteen were going to be exhibited, I got very excited at the prospect of visiting a quiet art gallery (which is not exactly my scene,) and decided to drag Barneys Girl to see them with me. (BG happily came along since the gallery Gimpel Fils, was located near Bonds Street.)

Yes, I'm talking about those prints -the ones taken by photographer Corrine Day and published in cult British magazine The Face in 1990, the iconic prints that established Kate Moss, 15 as the awkward, but soon-to-be imperfect supermodel. If you are a Kate Moss fan, then you'll understand why I'm gushing about this set of prints. This was the beginning of Kate Moss......

(This cover was not in the exhibition.)

Taken during a day trip to Camber Sands, Day’s photographs were seized upon as the antidote to the overindulgent 'supermodel in exotic location' fashion spreads which were all too apparent in the glossy magazines of the power-suited 1980s. Day preferred to challenge preconceived notions of beauty and redefined the concerns and range of the fashion photograph.

Moss recalled, “I was just having a laugh. Corinne just wanted to bring out everything that I hated when I was 15. My bow legs, the mole on my breast, the way I laughed”.
Gimpel Fils press release

Eventually, one of the pictures caught the eye of the influential art director Fabien Baron, who set up a meeting between Moss and Calvin Klein. Klein loved her, she became the new face of his brand, and many of the stylists and photographers involved in what was by then a grunge movement followed her into the mainstream.
The Telegraph Magazine

The best part of the exhibition were the contact sheets, (for those who don't know, a contact sheet is basically a print of the original negatives.) These contact sheets showed images Day considered and ones she chose. Day actually discarded the images where Kate put on the typical 'model' look and chose the ones where she looked natural and like a gawky, happy teenager. This was no ordinary fashion shoot. The clothes were not the focus, rather it was Day's aim was to capture the model's personality into film.

I LOVED these prints. It's hard to decide which image I liked the most. The one of Kate's face (picture on top) was HUGE, but still amazingly focused. Sigh, the exhibition was sooo beautiful and the gallery had such a calm vibe I didn't want to leave!