Edward Steichen & Art Deco Fashion

Arts & Events - by Open Journal

Considered the most well known and highest paid photographer in the world in the 1920s and 30s, pioneering fashion photographer Edward Steichen is credited as having taken the first fashion photographs ever published (for magazine Art et Décoration in 1911).

Appointed chief photographer at Condé Nast for their flagship publications Vogue and Vanity Fair from 1923 until 1938, Steichen produced a wealth of imagery that captured the glamour and inherent sophistication of the art deco period and the style of the newly liberated “modern woman”.

“On George Baher’s yacht. June Cox wearing unidentified fashion; E. Vogt wearing fashion by Chanel and a hat by Reboux; Lee Miller wearing a dress by Mae and Hattie Green and a scarf by Chanel; Hanna-Lee Sherman wearing unidentified fashion” 1928
Edward Steichen (1879 – 1973)

The first ever survey of his work held in Australia, Edward Steichen & Art Deco Fashioncomprises over 200 of Steichen’s original photographs, selected from the vast Condé Nast archives. Complementing Steichen’s photographs are original copies of Vogue and Vanity Fair from the 1920s and 30s, along with 30 vintage garments from the art deco period, from coats and evening gowns to swimsuits and one of Chanel’s signature little black dresses – both of which beautifully contextualise Steichen’s rich output during this period.

Along with his fashion photography, Steichen produced candid celebrity portraiture for the Condé Nast stable, where he shot icons of the day including Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Charlie Chaplin, Katherine Hepburn, and Greta Garbo. Prior to his period with Condé Nast Steichen was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz‘ groundbreaking magazine Camera Work, for which Steichen designed the logo and typeface for in 1902.

The cover of issue two of Camera Work, April 1903