Mon 6th May
Usually, the Central Saint Martins success stories begin when the brightest talents pierce into the fashion realm during graduation season. Though for Fashion Communication and Promotion students Reece + Dean, the pair have crafted a success story for themselves long before their time to don a cap and gown. The duo were responsible for shooting the first issue of FKA twigs’ Insta-Zine Avant Garden back in 2017 which has cemented itself as a highlight for the pair. “To work with an artist whose vision and work we admire so greatly was an honour. We hope that this project will be one of our defining moments in the future as it’s our largest self-directed project to date,” they tell us.
Other focal points that clutter their resumes include a sleazy editorial for Taint by Ashish, an angel-inspired spread in King Kong magazine, and a series for Vogue Italia that stars Aweng Chuoi and an Argos blow-up swimming pool. All very fashun. “Our series for Vogue Italia proved to us that we have the ability to do it on no budget. Our shoots are often quite extreme so the devotion within the team to get photos like that, despite the conditions is something that helps us define ourselves and our vision every time.” Now it’s time for the pair to take centre stage with their debut solo exhibition, Based on a True Story. Doubling up as the duo’s final graduate project, the initial idea for the show came from their shared love for horror flicks which has only flourished during their studies “through seeing the over saturation of commercial or mundane fashion imagery.”
Made up of 13 horror stories that “tackle the tropes, history and aesthetics of the genre,” R+D aim to modernise a genre that has particularly lagged behind due to its archaic tendencies. Yet the traditional sensibilities that make horror so great are still present. There will be blood, “lots of it,” the pair promise – as well as a bunch of hidden gems that reference the horror classics that have been and gone. Which ones will be included you ask? You’ll have to head down to the exhibition to find out. In the meantime, Reece and Dean take us through a carefully considered collection of their own back-catalogue highlights thus far, plus a trio of “leaked images” that will not be included in the exhibition, but offer an eerie preview into what’s to be expected – popcorn at the ready…
Wet Dream
“Wet Dream sees Jade Krüger as our first revealed easter egg, the clue is in her second name. She is an inspired poster girl, in which we made our graffitied Freddy Kruger dress by us. Spot her on the day!”
Mother Calls
“An introductory image into our largest story Mother Calls. Mother Calls is an explicit fantasy of mother nature reclaiming the human race.”
Creature Feature
“This story re-interprets ‘creature feature’s’ as a sub-genre and toys with societies rejection of the abnormal, in which we celebrate in this image.”
Krystian in T’Aint by Ashish
“This photo series was in collaboration with Ashish’s diffusion brand titled ’T’Aint’, the tee’s in which envisage homo-erotic works of Scoot Ramsay-Kyle. One thing we’ve always questioned is how are so many homoerotic tumblr-esque pictures of gay guys are taken, we took this as a good opportunity to explore this area and somewhat parody it.”
FKA Twigs AVANT GARDEN Issue 1
“In this project we aided in brining FKA Twigs vision to life, it was greatly inspiring and we’re so blessed to have been involved.”
Edwin Mohney x R+D
“Our look-book for designer Edwin Mohney was the most sporadic, spare of the moment shoot we’ve done. 14 looks in 5 hours, each one as iconic as the next.
The Dangerous Summer
“One of our more recent projects which is depiction of a dystopian Britain struck by constant heatwave. Where the British are still moaning about the weather but not acting fast enough to revert it.”
There is no ‘I’ in Team
“A personal project documenting Maidstone United Girls Football Club wearing Paolina Russo, everything by us.”
Aweng x King Kong
“One of our favourite images ever, this see’s the brilliant Aweng in Whitaker Malem bodysuit, this was the marrying of two amazing entities in one image.”
Lelu Stockbridge x Step into the Realm
“This image you could say is the initial starting point of Based on a True Story. The cinematic atmosphere, which was entirely constructed eerily depicted a moment caught in time. The feel is of this image is one we took forward and manifested into what you’ll see this coming Wednesday.”
Based on a True Story is opens Wednesday May 8th for one night only at 71 Powerscroft Rd, Clapton, London, E5 0PT – RSVP: basedonatruestory@reeceanddean.com.
