A quarter-century of visual experimentation, Nick Knight celebrates with a film ‘NATURALLY Made With Ray-Ban Meta.’
When British photographer Nick Knight launched the SHOWstudio website in November 2000, not everyone was convinced that a platform for fashion films, live broadcasts and debates was going to catch on. While photographers had long been fascinated by moving images of fashion – Knight himself had filmed shoots since he started working in the 1980s – glossy magazines and ad campaigns ruled. Those doubts were quickly proved wrong though when fashion superstars clamored to collaborate with SHOWstudio, and as social media developed Knight’s format provided a template for much of fashion’s social media.
What’s beautiful about SHOWstudio is that as well as a wellspring of creativity, it also pulled back the curtains to reveal the workings of the fashion industry.
“SHOWstudio changed the terrain. It opened up fashion commentary to anyone with an opinion, which matters in an industry that usually protects its gates,” says designer Charles Jeffery. “With Nick Knight’s photography sitting at the peak of image-making, the platform became a kind of modern Maison of innovation – an ecosystem where new voices sit next to master craft. Seeing that mix of access and excellence was what made me realize there was room for someone like me.”
“I have always dreamed of being able to take a picture by blinking my eye, thus being physically free of a camera to move, to see and to try and find my dreams.”
Nick Knight, Founder SHOWstudio.
Over the years, SHOWStudio has collaborated with everyone from Lee McQueen and Vivienne Westwood to Kim Kardashian and Virgil Abloh on live webcamming, digital runways and AI imagery. The first live-stream of a fashion show – McQueen’s Plato Atlantis collection – was on SHOWstudio in 2009, there were cutting-edge creative projects with Bjork and the Mayfair office was even used as a hiding place by Kate Moss when she got tired of being followed by the paparazzi.
One of Knight’s lightbulb moments for founding SHOWstudio was at an early shoot with Naomi Campbell. She was listening to a song from her friend Prince’s new album which hadn’t yet been released wearing a red Yohji Yamamoto coat in front of a white background. He couldn’t believe that only the six people on set would ever see the scene, so he started filming for posterity.
Twenty-five years later, Knight is still curious about technological innovation, capturing his unique vision for the world and making it available for a wide audience. To celebrate SHOWstudio’s silver jubilee he’s made a film with Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) using a new image-making technique called Gaussian Scanning which lets him place 3D images in hi-res environments and essentially ‘take pictures’ using Ray-Ban Meta Glasses. The resultant film, Naturally, features Anok Yai, Naomi Campbell, Mona Tougaard, Susie Cave and Xiao Wen Ju in stunning fantasy arcadian landscapes.
“I have always dreamed of being able to take a picture by blinking my eye, thus being physically free of a camera to move, to see and to try and find my dreams,” says Knight. “For this piece of work that celebrates a 25 year journey, I wanted to create using AI and the new road we’re traveling.”
The technology may be futuristic, but as stylist Katy England points out, the spirit is what SHOWStudio has always been about: “This is a place for experimentation, newness, technological development and support for creatives…. It’s a truly unique, safe place far away from financial dictatorship and all the restrictions and compromises that come with that. The Fashion Industry can be a very intimidating and exclusive place, but since I first met Nick he has always embraced new ideas and has given his time without discrimination to anyone and everyone. I can’t express enough how valuable and important SHOWstudio is.”
All imagery courtesy of ShowStudio.
