Fashionista types may already be familiar with Bernard Willhelm, the edgy German-born designer who has worked with trendsetters such as Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney. In previous seasons, Willhelm has created a buzz in the fashion world for donating entire collections to museums and hiring abtatsic Belgian street toughs to model his menswear collection. Borrowing a page from the Thierry Mugler and Jean-Paul Gaultier school of marketing—when in doubt, hire a pornstar or two or three!—he's now signed Fleshbot boyfriend-to-be Francois Sagat to model his highly conceptual Fall 2007 collection. Think superhero meets pornstar with lots of lycra, spandex and masks (an an occasional Peter Berlin wig thrown in for good measure.)
But it wasn't all glitz and glamour, according to Francois: "We did the photoshoot everywhere in Paris ... Mainly outside with a fucking cold, fucking wind and a fucking rain in such a fucking city, as usual in June/July. The result looks good but I'm not sure It would really fit in the supermarket or in the restaurant. I love all the underwear and gymsuit/swimsuit spirit of the collection." Kinda makes you wish Francois was available for your own private runway show, no?
· "FRANCOIS SAGAT for Bernard Willhelm" (ethansays.com)
· Bernard Willhelm Exhibition (fsagat.blogspot.com)
· Bernard Willhelm Spring/Summer 2007 (flash galeries @ prettypretty.be)
Previously: Francois Sagat: The Juggernaut Continues, Boyblog Booty Call: The Incredible Lightness Of Being Francois Sagat, Francois Loves Francesco