Shop Girls

The second in a series of portrait projects documenting the unsung heroes of the fashion industry

Having photographed stylists’ assistants in the last issue of AnOther Magazine, shop assistants seemed to be a natural progression. For those people who work with clothes all day, fashion and style become a focus, and with time to experiment they wear clothes differently to others – and to each other. "The girls from vintage shops had an eclectic retro style – The Dover Street Market girls were avant-garde in their dress; there was a slightly buttoned up austere simplicity and cool classicism to the girl from APC; and a wild punkish femininity to the girl from Vivienne Westwood,"" explains Joanna Schlenzka. And why did Gareth McConnell cast them? “They are all girls that I could have fallen for at one time or another," he says. "Everyday beauties."

Credits
Photography:
Gareth McConnell
Styling: Joanna Schlenzka
Hair: Raphael Salley at Streeters London
Make-up: Ayami Nishimura at Julian Watson Agency using Chanel Spring 2010 Collection
Photographic assistants: Michelle Beatty, Marie Angeletti
Styling assistants: Nobuko Tannawa, Shinichiro Katsumi, Danielle Waldman  
Hair assistant: Akiko
Make-up assistants: Thomas De Kluyver, Joanna Banach
Special thanks to The Cloth House, London