Charlotte Dare Portfolio by p2728694

Charlotte Dare

Stylist - Photographer - Art Director

model: pierce serrant

About me

As a fashion student I m always trying to find new and unique styling techniques that will stand out and give me an interesting identity within my work. I ve experimented with multiple different looks throughout my past projects but what really stands out to me is the idea that anything can be fashion . Breaking typical stereotypes and boundaries of what can be worn and what can make an outfit is something I want to elevate throughout my work and experiment with when styling. Coco Chanel once said Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the streets, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening Harper s Bazaar Staff, 2022 . I can identify with this statement, and it encourages me to push traditional boundaries in the way we dress. I believe this message is saying that we should be dressing to create a message, this is something I want to show throughout my work.

I take a lot of inspiration from Imruh Asha, when it comes to his styling, he uses a lot of ordinary, household objects that anyone would be able to get their hands on. When interviewed he said, I always try to reinvent and try to come up with new ideas to not bore myself models, 2024 . This is one of the reasons why his work resonates with me. Another would be the way he has so much variety throughout his projects and collaborations. His work plays with vibrant and electric colours, a mixture of structural silhouettes, textures, movement and he styles models in a more mundane look CLASS, n.d. .

When researching photographers for a new brief I was randomly picking out images that I found striking. When researching and referencing these images Rafael Pavarotti kept coming up. He inspired the amount of colour used in my shoots and pushed me to test stuff I hadn t done before, such as using these bright backgrounds in the studio. He uses a selection of vivid and bold colours throughout all his shoots to leave subtle messages and to hint at the subject matter that he wants to convey throughout his work, each colour chosen has a meaning behind it Anand, 2020b . This is again showing that everything he does has a reasoning behind it even if the audience aren t aware of it whilst looking at one of his photographs.

trainers

taking inspiration from the idea of collections and how people start to associate themselves with the things they collected. for this shoot i found out that my model collectes trainers so experimented with unorthodox styling techniques to show this.

Rafael Pavarotti has been named fashions new breed Vogue, 2020 . The photographer who was born in the Amazon rainforest is known for his signature use of rich and vibrant colour pallets and is centred on shooting a diverse group of models and aims to represent blackness in the fashion industry Seth, 2021 . When he was a young teenager him and his friends came together with resources and captured the essence of their hometown, beaches and decaying architecture. At the age of 16 Pavarotti moved to London and started his venture into the world of fashion where he now highlights and creates visibility for not only the current generation but also those in the future class, 2022 . He said in an interview Much of what I do today is for the next generations to come and for those who are not yet born. I want racialised children to grow up with reference to multiplicity where they can see themselves. Anand, 2020 . When reading this interview what I found interesting was the fact that his grandmother s colourful crockery is the meaning behind his approach when capturing colour. For my Home project I similarly also took inspiration from the things my nan collects. He said in the interview My grandma s world is colourful, and mine is too Anand, 2020 . This is how I ended up feeling by the end of this project with my nan, the stuff she collects ended up being my biggest inspiration and inspired me with the concept that I want to take forward into my new projects.

The shoot In the Mood for Nobility plays on the idea of Nobility which was a common word used by people in the 1800s to describe a group in society that are in the highest social rank. The work shows striking close ups of models in nobility-inspired garments to show representation of the ancestral origin. Rafael Pavarotti and Robert Kjeldgaard worked together to challenge the underrepresentation of black figures in both the fashion industry and history. Phillips, 2022 . Using a mixture of modern menswear pieces but also traditional items Robert Kjeldgaard creates a new and contemporary look to nobility. In the images in fig 1 there s a lot of draping and layering which are styling techniques that push looks and adds depth to the images. It s an all-male shoot with a feminine twist when it comes to the styling. The use of timeless blazers mixed with dresses and colourful gloves gives a new, modern look to Nobility . There s a lot of block colours not only in the clothing items chosen, but also in the different coloured backgrounds used. This is what Rafael is known for as he does it so successfully in all his work.

I ve chosen to talk about my two recent pieces of work from second year, where I started to find my identity and discover what style I want to carry through my work. Throughout both of these shoots I have captured the idea of collections and used these everyday objects to style them in unorthodox ways. Pushing the idea and showing the emotional connection between people and the items they collect is what I want my images to show. In everyday life it is standard to collect things, this may be inherent from childhood through dolls or cars then through to adulthood with jewellery, ornament, candles and clothes. Collectors use possessions as a means of realising self-concept and constructing and maintaining a sense of identity. This is a concept I find interesting Zonneveld and Biggemann, 2014 .

I found myself looking at random objects and thinking in my head how could I style this for a shoot? , this proved to me that I wanted to peruse the idea that anything can be fashion through my other pieces of work. The idea of using belongings that people collect, throwing away or don t want anymore and giving them a new lease of life is something that I found myself starting to feel passionate about. Showcasing these collections in a way that they hadn t been seen before was a concept that I started to get excited about.

Following on from this, I was inspired to push the idea of what objects can be worn and styled. For this shoot I was talking to my model, and he mentioned how much he loved to collect trainers, this influenced me to start thinking about how his collection of trainers could be styled in a unique way. This bought me back to the collection of images that Imruh Asha did, Record breakers Dazed, 2023 , especially the image where he covered the model in bulldog clips. I wanted to create the same effect and cover my model with the trainers he collects. I ve established that I really want to embody the idea of taking a model, getting to know them and what they collect and styling these objects on them. I really like how personal it becomes and I want to showcase part of their personality in the shoots I create.

I really admire Rafael Pavarotti and his use vibrant colours in his shoots. Wanting to merge the use of colour and the idea of using these unique, personal objects to style with is what I think worked so well with this shoot. I used the trainers to create an interesting silhouette by having them trail up the one side of his body. I wanted to leave half the body uncovered to show off the model and make it less overwhelming to look at.

Lov Nan x

a collection of images all to do with home . Home to me was my nan and her house that She has lived in for over 55 years. in this amount of time, she has lots of collections. these images explore the idea of my nan turning into her most sentimental items.

DESIGN MADE BY ALEXANDRA OAKLEY

MODEL: MARRION DARE

Imruh Asha is a stylist and fashion director of Dazed magazine who also plays with vibrant colours and interesting silhouettes. Dazed is a magazine that started in 1991 by Jefferson Hack and Rankin. When it first launched it was an alternative style and culture magazine. Today, Dazed magazine continues to be an advocate for radical fashion and youth culture, defining the times with a vanguard of next generation writers, stylists and image makers Dazed Digital, 2008 Imruh started working for dazed in 2021 and since then has continued to push fashion and styling to new places and continues to challenge the idea of what is fashion? by using unique objects to style with. In March of 2023 he created a story of images called Record Breakers for the dazed summer issue. He drew from old childhood memories of when he would spend ages looking through The Guinness Book of World Records Dazed, 2023 . This shoot was in collaboration with Andrea Artemisio where in each shot the styling got pushed beyond what had ever been done by breaking the record for most ties worn around the neck and most clips worn on clothes. This is only one example of where Imruh has really pushed fashion to the limits by even breaking world records by using these everyday items.

Another example of where he did this was in the 2024 Ikea campaign. Both Imruh and Ikea came together to create a zine which explored the meaning of home. For this, they did a deep dive into the Ikea archives to shine a spotlight on all the different types of living to show how versatile their furniture is. Their aim was to connect with the younger generation who might be making the transition in to their first homes. In the series of images, it shows unconventional items being worn by people. You can see objects like clothing hangers, pots and pans all of which was 100 sourced by Imruh from only local Ikea stores being styled in a way never to be seen before. Imruh once again playing on the idea that anything can be fashion which is what I find so interesting about him and his work.

For my own project the brief was to do with home . I chose to make the concept about my nans house which she has now lived in for just over 55 years. As she has lived in this house for such a long length of time, over the years she has col lected a lot. It all started when my cousin made a comment about how when we were younger, we would go to my nans house and would play with the button tin. This is what start ed the idea of collections, similarly, to how Imruh took in spiration from The Guinness World Record book which led him to create his set of images called the Record Breakers and also similar to how Rafael Pavarotti s colourful images are inspired by his grandmas collection of crockery. This memory and conversation inspired me to think, what else does my nan collect? Some of these objects being rugs, jewellery, button and statues. When doing the research as to why she collects these items it became clear to me that they all have a sen timental story, proving that humans build attachments with these objects and that they fill an emotional need Russo, 2018 . This is the emotion that I want to show in my images.

I wanted these collections to be at the forefront of my work and experiment with using these unconventional things to style with. At the time I didn t use Imruh Asha as a reference to this project, but I have recently recognised how similar our styling techniques are in the way that we both want to push the idea of what can be styled. Imruh said in an interview I love to break stigmas Thawley, 2023 proving that he wants to push fashion and styling to its limits. I came up with the con cept that it would look as if my nan were turning into these objects pushing the idea that these possessions become an ex tension of ourselves Russo, 2018 . I took the objects she col lects and as seen in fig 5, used these to style with. Although we were given a garment from a designer, I enjoyed finding ways to personalise and convey my own identity whilst still using this unique, one-off garment. I took these everyday items and like Imruh and used them to create an individual look to show my character that I now want to take forward in future projects.

To conclude, I aim to merge the idea of using personal objects and bright colours in my future shoots to create portraits that are personal to each model. I want to aim for these shoots to show how people s identities can be shown by the objects they collect and push the idea of them becoming an extension of ourselves Russo, 2018 . By using both techniques from Rafael Pavarotti and Imruh Asha moving forward, I want to once again push the idea of what is fashion and what can be styled. By using these ordinary items in an unconventional way and merging them with bright colours I hope to do this.

Exhibition

LOCATION: LCB DEPOT, LEICESTER -no place like..

collaborations

a collaboration between me and fashion designers where we work together to showcase their work.

design by: Alexandra Oakley MODELS: RHIANNE, KAYUH

designs by: delrose studio

models: Leya Richmond, Elise Chaplin and Anna Chi

The Bridge

This project was all about raising awareness for a local leicester homeless charity, The Bridge. I wanted to focus on the process and growth you can go through when opening up and talking to someone. This concept was based on metamorphosis and the idea of breaking out and feeling freer within yourself.

Model: Riley J

ALLSAINTS

looking into the idea of personal style by using one item of clothing but showing it styled in several different ways. for this i focused on the iconic allsaints leather jacket, showing how versatile this staple piece is.

Models: Alex Brogan, Seun, ellie cook , gracy khatri

press here for video

Punk X Lad Culture

combining two subcultures together, punk and lad culture. i created a styling look which highlighted both the rock of punk and the comfort and the of a football shirt.

MODEL: JACK BEAZER

Coming Of Age

i created a zine which featured a mixture of on location and studio shoots all do with the early 2000s and the idea of growing up in a girl friendship group at this time.

models; Ellie Cook,Dalehna Malbec, Steph Morton

Stop press

this series of images look into the idea of being trapped and having no freedom of speech. i wanted to show how it feels and embody this through the styling.