When Chanel asked me if I wanted to create a story around their SS16 Haute Couture collection I was so excited by the opportunity to create a meaningful and adventurous editorial. The collection was themed around sustainability and eco friendly practices. I think we all want to protect the beautiful planet we live on, and small changes can make a huge a difference. Turning off the tap when you brush your teeth, turning appliances off at the socket, taking part in land fill charity clothes swaps; these small gestures can make a difference for everyone. I really wanted to create an editorial that both celebrated the beauty of nature and referenced sustainable technologies, bringing some attention to great projects.

I realised I wanted to shoot in a clean energy environment, so I found a Farm I felt was both beautiful and doing new and interesting things for sustainable farming. England is so green, it’s easy to take for granted that this beautiful country needs love to keep it like that. Culworth Grounds Farm is doing wonderful things towards sustainability, which I will touch on more in the following editorials. This week I will publish three pieces inspired by the Chanel Couture collection, this is the first.

The collection featured wooden beads, straw fabrics, cork shoes and neutral tones; Karl Largerfield returned Chanel to beige for the first time under his leadership.  Every element had to be made because the fashion materials and embellishments don’t exist in natural fibres like these.  Mr Largerfield wanted to create a perfect world that should exist, taking ecology one step further and making a setting and collection that was beautiful, high fashion and luxurious as well as sustainable and natural.

Taking inspiration from the show, I shot this beautiful dress in a straw barn. I also referenced the show’s beauty looks, adapting them to suit my vision. I wanted the shoot to feel soft, natural and warm but with a sense of modernity, the beauty look really helped to do this. Culworth is a family run farm and the spaniel in the photos is the family’s dog.

To see my previous Chanel Couture editorials shot on location with Wild at Heart have a look here, here and here.