Lighting up the threads

Eye Couture by photographer Magali and designer Sandra, both from France, showcases fashion photography with an artistic twist

An eye for design and fashion.

The bridal veil is so vivid on the woman’s face that one has to reach out and look closer, only to realize that is not real. The sequinned cream wedding dress that has been pinned to the wall next to the photograph, elegantly flows down.

More photographs follow, of the bride in the photograph, a model posing in the wedding dress. It was fashion photography, but with an artistic twist, part of the exhibition Eye Couture that is on view at the Shades of Art gallery space. The exhibition is a collaboration between Sandra Bozic Koduru, a fashion designer from France and Magali Couffon De Trevros, a photographer also from France, who have been residing in Bangalore for nine and 19 years respectively.

“We have been wanting to collaborate for a long time, to do something around fashion and photography. The idea was to have an installation, a whole set-up with dresses, photographs and props,” says Magali. The exhibition has on display Sandra’s dresses, which range from her wedding dress, to dresses made out of denim, saris and French army fabric.

“Sandra usually makes dresses for her friends, who ask her to design for occasions. We wanted to have something special, something that speaks of haute couture,” says Magali.

And so they worked with clean lines and different cuts ranging from the 17 century basket-based dress in army fabric using pink to soften the look, to a kimono-styled dress in denim. Magali then did photo shoots on the dresses, printing the photographs on various materials including canvas, vinyl, and fabric.

“I wanted to keep the photographs simple while enhancing the dresses, working with textures, lines and colours to produce an image that is not necessarily perfect. And I think that the imperfection serves the purpose of the dresses. I also wanted to show that photography needn’t always be on paper.”

The idea behind the exhibition in Bangalore, apart from being an expression of the duo’s passion for fashion, was also to showcase fashion photography, in a way, which Magali believes is something that one doesn’t see in India. The exhibition showcases the duo’s Indian influences while staying true to their French roots.

Eye Couture will be on view until November at Shades of Art, 31, 2 floor, Venkat Reddy Layout, 80 feet road cross, Koramangala 6 block. For details, contact Magali at magalicouffon@yahoo.in.