PRISMATIC

Our featured designers—Molly Goddard, Lemaire, Balenciaga, Rodarte, Miu Miu, Marni, Maison Margiela, Rosie Assoulin, Sandy Liang, and Area among others—are not for wallflowers. These pieces are transformational; put them on and notice a shift in the way you feel.

Seasoned model Laura Morgan (who I’ve admired for years on many designers’ runways and iconic CELINE ads) was transformed in each look. An artist and activist in her forties, she brought so much expertise—knowing herself and her craft well—yet was clearly open to experimentation.

Pulling inspiration from everywhere—including the florescent art of Dan Flavin, ’80s punk, and Warhol’s 1966 film, Outer and Inner Space—we worked with L.A.-based artist Jhordan Sophia Dahl. I love her abstract constructed images and felt the season’s moods could only be enhanced by her hyperpigmented, surrealist touch.

Her artful works speak again to the metaphoric nature of fashion. With a strong edit and amazing in-store stylists, we want to guide you, our client, into the next style evolution. Fall is the most exuberant time in fashion; everything is about fun, intuition, experimentation, and change. For me it all comes together in a quote I recently came across in a vintage art magazine: Q: Are we searching for beauty and what is the beautiful? A: Search, man, search.
—Kristen Cole
President & Chief Creative Officer, Forty Five Ten

Scroll down for our conversation with Jhordan Dahl.

Muse, artist, or both?
I can be either/or, I suppose, when/if I’m in the mood to be.

Favorite artist?
I have a lot of favorite artists—different artists at different times in my life. The artists who are always inspiring me and definitely connect to this collaboration with Forty Five Ten would be Maya Deren, Sylvie Fleury, Robert Heinecken, and Wallace Berman.

You’ve worked in art curation and production. What projects do you most enjoy taking on?
My favorite kinds of projects are creative collaborations especially when they have a historical element connected to them. A good example would be working on the recreation of Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco in a Hollywood gallery that once housed the actual Disco back in the ‘70s.

And of course collaborating with my favorite dudes, Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe. One of my favorite projects with them was the transformation of modernist architect Rudolph Schindler’s 1934 Buck House into an imagined home of a fictitious doctor who abandoned his LSD safehouse of sorts and left behind a beautiful psychedelic mess from 1960s Hollywood to present day.

Sometimes I’m working months on end, with very little sleep or nourishment because my total focus and commitment to a project is all consuming. When the project finally comes to fruition, there’s an overwhelming feeling of euphoria, coupled with a slight sense of sadness when an era comes to an end.

One of your favorite artists you’ve worked with?
Although most people think of her simply as Rudi Gernreich’s model and muse, Peggy Moffitt is a true artist in every sense of the word. She’s a huge inspiration in everything I do in life.

We think your work is very glamorous, but with an edge. How do you describe the aesthetic of your work?
The first impression may project a glamorous aesthetic, however the glamour beneath the surface is what fascinates me. The incorporation of a darker side of a façade/public persona and the psychology accompanying that is what I strive to capture. The mirror reflection beneath the image is a way of expressing the deeper layers and connections to façade and vanity while looking into yourself and allowing yourself to look back into you, seeing your own reflection therein.

Who would be your ideal subject?
My mother.

Let’s talk fashion. What designers do you hunt for in vintage?
After all these years, I’m still looking for that magical Bárbara Hulanicki for Biba dress. Plus, Ossie Clark + Celia Birtwell, Fiorucci for Wrangler, ‘90s Bill Blass, Escada, ‘80s Gianni Versace

Any vintage style icons you look to for inspiration?
Candy Darling, Diana Vreeland, and my grandmother always inspire me.