For over half a century, the celebrated British documentary photographer Martin Parr’s unflinching images of Thatcher-era lingerie parties, New Brighton Beach-goers lounging near piles of litter, and kitschy Manchester malls have chronicled the absurdities of Britain’s consumer culture with humor and an idiosyncratic gaze.
Now, a new book offers an up-close look at Parr’s own commercial instincts. Fashion Faux Parr, to be published by Phaidon in April, is the first retrospective dedicated to Parr’s fashion oeuvre, spanning three decades of Vogue photoshoots and collaborations with brands like Gucci, Balenciaga, and Stüssy.
There are many ways to read the, Urban Outfitters necklaces strewn atop dentures at a stall in a Marrakech souk, wrinkled French sunbathers decked out in Gucci—are seen as faux pas in the glitzy, make-believe world of fashion? Maybe the title refers to Parr’s choice to include professional hiccups, like a scrapped 2023 Balenciaga campaign, or a portfolio of emerging London designers that Parr shot “for a small magazine that didn’t pay the bill,” the introduction notes, “so the pictures never saw the light of day”?
