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"PRADA IS THE MOST DIFFICULT FASHION CAMPAIGN IN THE WORLD, and to try and reinvent them seasonally is, is. . .'" The Germanborn, London-based photographer Norbert Schoemer shrugs his shoulders and tails off. As if mere words (well, English words at any rate) cannot do justice to the amount of blood, sweat and rolls of film demanded by such a high-profile campaign in the rarified world of haute couture.
It is seven o'clock on a balmy summer evening on Kensal Road, a tree-lined street of red-brick film and photographic studios in London's Westbourne Grove, a stone's throw from ever-so-trendy Notting Hill. And Schoemer and his crew are waiting patiently for the errant Prada model to show to shoot the Christmas campaign. But the stocky thirtysomething Schoemer, unassuming, affable and articulate, has the resigned air of a man used to waiting for missing models to materialize. Since signing on with Prada in early '98, Schoemer has shot a half-dozen consecutive campaigns-some involving over 60 separate shots and the last of which involved a hectic nonstop 55-day schedule in Italy.
In the world of catwalk couture, Prada's advertising is seen as less commercial and iconoclastic than such other marketing whizzes as, say, Calvin Klein. It's also seen as more challenging and is considered highly influential. So influential, in fact, it's helped make this aggressively expansionist Italian fashion house the byword for contemporary cachet.
The meteoric rise of Prada began in 1985 when Miuccia Prada introduced a range of black nylon tote bags and backpacks costing hundreds of dollars. it was a move whose timeliness not only helped reinvent her grandfather's Italian luggage company, but also launched a modern fashion phenomenon. In 1988 followed the eponymous fashion line, praised for its elegant minimalism. Then in 1991 came Miu Miu (Miuccia's nickname), a clothing line aimed at younger teens and twentysomethings. By 1999 there were six separate Prada lines in total.
While previous Prada ads had followed the well-trod path of using celebrities, including Drew Barrymore and Chloe Sevigny, by 1997 the job had fallen to Glenn Luchford, a British lensman known for his darkly mysterious vision. A typical Luchford/Prada spread consisted of a dark, murky background against which was set the blurry image of a furtive-looking model who...