IT’S A FEAST: Dover Street Market was packed on the night of Feb. 21, as shoppers were trying to get their hands on a copy of “Click-to-Buy,” the first photo book released by London-based streetwear label Aries in collaboration with fashion photographer David Sims.
“David has always been interested in subcultures and streetwear — he had a surf shop,” spilled Aries cofounder Sofia Prantera. “And one day he offered to take pictures for me; I think he just wanted to do something slightly different. But I was quite shocked; it took me two years to get the courage to say: ‘Do you really mean it?’” she said.
Teased Sims: “You know what? And I probably shouldn’t share this: Sofia knows something about my history that I wouldn’t want people to know, and she threatened to tell people, so that’s why I did it — and that’s the truth.”
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Naturally, don’t expect to find any polished fashion photography in the 96-page tome, which is available today.
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Styled by Jane How and featuring artwork by Prantera’s creative partner Fergus “Fergadelic” Purcell, the book zooms in on Aries’ visual language. “I wanted it to be less about the clothes and more about the branding,” Prantera explained, adding: “Our brand is very much about logos and graphics. It’s strongly influenced by Eighties brands and classicist symbols — that’s how the idea of bacchanalia came about with girls having a party, and David wanted it to be in a minicab office. He’s obsessed with them. They don’t exist anymore.”
The designer said Sims’ work was a big influence on her designs, lauding his rebel attitude which has challenged the snobby world of fashion from within. As she wrote in the preface: “David’s women were different, they were real, they had flaws and, in his pictures, their flaws became their beauty.”
Priced at 45 pounds, or $56 at current exchange,”Click-to-Buy” is available at DSM and via the label’s own web site.