Behind the Scenes of Super Creeps for AnOther Magazine S/S17

The team behind AnOther Magazine S/S17’s incendiary Super Creeps story shares the stories which inspired it – from that of Boudicca to Medusa

“The starting point began with looking at archetypally strong women – a Joan of Arc-like character. But the shoot ended up moving away from that: this woman could be at a protest, on the battlefield, or at a rave,” says AnOther Magazine’s fashion director Katie Shillingford of the inspiration behind Super Creeps, created for AnOther Magazine S/S17. The story, styled by Shillingford, was shot by Sølve Sundsbø, with hair created by Eugene Souleiman and beauty by Inge Grognard.

“I have to say that on this job we were all thinking along the same lines, and it almost felt like we were the same person,” explains Souleiman, who cites his vision for Super Creeps as garnered from youth subcultures, with allusions to skinhead girls, goth girls, punks, and club kids evidenced in the story. “I used these subcultures to form a contemporary type of heroine – a Queen Boudicca and Medusa for now.” Grognard agrees that working as part of this particular team felt like something special: “It’s very important to feel comfortable around each other. With Katie, Sølve, Eugene and I, we all just matched. I find ideas can come more spontaneously and naturally this way – as they did with this shoot. It’s harder to work creatively with people who you don’t feel that with you can be yourself around.”

“I used these subcultures to form a contemporary type of heroine – a Queen Boudicca and Medusa for now” – Eugene Souleiman

Sundsbø notes that it was particularly stimulating to work with such strong characters. “They are all really interesting people. To work with Eugene is wonderful – he brings so much in terms of his skills and also his references that go beyond the obvious: from paintings to Colombian street gangs, for example. And Inge too – they are outsiders working on the inside and that is what is so great about them both.” The photographer, who has created an exclusive film for anothermag.com as an extension of the story in AnOther Magazine’s S/S17 issue, also mentions that despite a synergy behind the scenes, that there was an intention to create a sense of rebellion and rage, reflective of today’s political landscape. “The burning car in the shoot was there to represent the supposed 200 burning cars that go unreported in France each year – it was a comment on non-verifiable facts.”

Hair: Eugene Souleiman at Streeters using Wella Professionals. Make-up: Inge Grognard at Jed Root using MAC Cosmetics. Models: Angelica Erthal at Elite London, Ina Maribo Jensen at Women Paris, Kirin D at The Squad and Nora Attal at Viva London. Casting: Noah Shelley at AM Casting. Set design: Robbie Doig at Dragonfly Scenery. Manicure: Marian Newman at Streeters. Photographic assistants: Simon McGuigan, Peter Carter and Samuel Stephenson. Digital tech: Anna Hendry. Styling assistants: Rosie Arkell-Palmer and Marta Stella Brienza. Hair assistants: Alfie Sackett, Richard Phillipart, Shiori Takahashi and Tomomi Roppongi. Make-up assistant: Rebecca Rojas. Post-production: Digital Light Ltd. Production: Sally Dawson and Paula Ekenger at Sølve Sundsbø Studio.

AnOther Magazine S/S17 is out now.