“Fleurs du Mal” for Malvie Magazine

With the 200th anniversary of the French poet Charles Baudelaire occurring this year on April 9th, I wanted to create images inspired by The Flowers of Evil. In collaboration with model Edie Eve (@edieeve), whose expert styling made the high fashion look I had in mind for this editorial come to life, each look is in dialogue with a particular poem in Les Fleurs du mal. The fact that the May issue of Malvie Magazine came out on my birthday made this editorial all the more special!

Green corresponds to "Le Poison"

"Tout cela ne vaut pas le poison qui découle
De tes yeux, de tes yeux verts,
Lacs où mon âme tremble et se voit à l'envers...
Mes songes viennent en foule
Pour se désaltérer à ces gouffres amers."

"The Poison"

"All that is not equal to the poison which flows
From your eyes, from your green eyes,
Lakes where my soul trembles and sees its evil side...
My dreams come in multitude
To slake their thirst in those bitter gulfs."

The gold dress depicts the woman addressed in "À celle qui est trop gaie"

"Ta tête, ton geste, ton air
Sont beaux comme un beau paysage;
Le rire joue en ton visage
Comme un vent frais dans un ciel clair."

"To she who is too cheerful"

"Your head, your bearing, your gestures
Are fair as a fair countryside;
Laughter plays on your face
Like a cool wind in a clear sky."

The black look, in turn, embodies the spectral beauty of "Un Fantôme"

"Par instants brille, et s'allonge, et s'étale
Un spectre fait de grâce et de splendeur.
À sa rêveuse allure orientale,
Quand il atteint sa totale grandeur,
Je reconnais ma belle visiteuse:

C'est Elle! noire et pourtant lumineuse."

"A Phantom"

"At times there shines, and lengthens, and broadens
A specter made of grace and of splendor;
By its dreamy, oriental manner,

When it attains its full stature,
I recognize my lovely visitor;
It's She! dark and yet luminous." (Transl. William Aggeler)