Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott first met when one asked the other for a light at a party on the south coast of England way back when in the ’90s. Together they have since built one of the most influential photographic practices in contemporary fashion by playing the perfect gloss of digital post-production against the who-the-hell-knows unpredictability of real-world image making. Campaigns galore and covers aplenty have followed, but last night, Phillips in London hosted the first major exhibition of their work—all of which was on sale in single-edition lots masterminded by Art Partner.
Of the 18 works on show, about half were dedicated to one model: Kate Moss. Alas explained: “She’s a really close friend. And it’s so much easier to make photos of someone you really know and you connect with. You can do things you couldn’t do with someone you don’t know.”
Moss rolled up to the event, as did fellow Mert and Marcus subjects Madonna—looking very Marlon Brando in Moschino—and Lara Stone. Many arrived in Maserati cars—a partner sponsor of the event. As they inspected the images, Piggott explained: “This is a sneak preview of a broader portfolio of work. We’re doing a book in March. So this is like a little teaser for a big exhibition we are going to do in March. We don’t know what the name for it is yet.”
A lot of the images on show are strictly NSFW but as Alas said, provocation and spontaneity are both fundamental elements in the Mert and Marcus formula: “Most of these images were an accidental moment. And most of them are of friends. We make a plan to do this idea; this character, in this location—and then some accident happens. Most of the images we chose here are images that we hadn’t really prepared for.”
After the preview, many of the guests headed across Berkeley Square to Mark’s Club, where W Magazine’s Edward Enninful was hosting a celebration dinner after being awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II earlier in the day.