Industrial Underdog by Ira Giorgetti

A KALTBLUT exclusive menswear editorial. Photography by Ira Giorgetti. Models are James at AMCK Models and Sander at Nevs Models. Styled by David Cochrane using Gucci, Diesel, Puma, Asics, Kenzo, Moschino, Ralph Lauren amongst others. Make up by Sophie Moore. Hair by Rom Sartipi. Words by Martin Rybak & Ira Giorgetti

“Riding on the erupting uniform trend, we bring back part-time uni-sideline nostalgia in an eclectic commentary on every day workman fashion. Raw, urban, and ultra-modern, the story looks to connect with city dwellers and modern commercialists alike. Inspired by the rapid growth of non-employee contractual labour and its impact on the invariable commercialised fashion seen around London, this story looks to glamourise often overlooked functional aesthetics that lend themselves to brands’ ingenuity.”

Ira Giorgetti is a young photographer and filmmaker based in West London who explores pop culture, commercialism, and the rise of the gig economy in his new photo shoot. Once a style-driven 16 year old fashion blogger, he’s now a full time commercial photographer and advertising filmmaker. “Industrial Underdog” is an exploration of the uniform trend that began with trendy pieces like the DHL T- shirt by Vetements and Royal Mail shirts by Virgil Abloh that took social media by storm. The photoshoot raises the question why conformist, industrial fashion suddenly become inspiration, such as Moschino with McDonald’s and Balenciaga with IKEA.

“I spend my time doing conceptual and editorial photography that plays on form, pop culture, and social criticism. I love creating photo sets that have a different perspective on current affairs and social media trends. Often, my photo sets play on form, pop culture, and social criticism. I love creating photo sets that have a different perspective on current affairs and social media trends.”

With “Industrial Underdog,” Ira explores the question of why trends usually reserved for the masses become such a hit with style mavens. Vetements’ famous DHL T-shirt became instant hype, it personified the anti-luxury statement that young fashion consumers were looking for. High fashion merged with pop culture, commercialism, and a certain irony that made luxury fashion suddenly attractive to consumers and buyers alike. “Industrial Underdog” comments on the role uniforms have in our society. It shows how far uniforms have come in terms of structure, design, branding, and material, as well as the development of the concept of uniformity itself from the idea of fast-food and low-wage workers to the modern ideals surrounding self-employment and taking control of one’s working hours and environments.

“Brands, such as DHL, IKEA, Deliveroo or Uber, are taking over people’s lives. It made sense to pay homage to such vital aspects of modern society. Fashion is a very reflexive form of expression, and personal fashion, more than anything else, is so heavily influenced by one’s immediate surroundings. I’m not surprised that Vetements decided to incorporate the DHL logo.”

The way young fashion consumers dress is a choice; a way of showing their power. This generation has an influence on the fashion industry that prior generations didn’t. Big labels dictated trends in the past, but now it is the collective of young fashion consumers, blogger,s and street style enthusiast that creates new trends and hypes on social media.

“Fashion was and partly still is very traditional, and much of it is reserved for those who have been in it for decades, but there is something to be said for the influence of a whole new generation of young fashion consumers, stylists, writers, photographers, and designers who play by their own rules and effortlessly buck trends with admirable consistency.”

The current generation of fashion-aware consumers is actively seeking the latest trends at lightning speed, often with a faster turnaround on product cycels than any other generation before it. With no previous generation did “uniqueness” and “being first” mean so much. Fashion houses, independent designers, and fast fashion brands are now required to churn out new, unique, and provocative ideas faster than the traditional seasonal cycles in order to satisfy the desire of “the unseen” that youth is looking for. Classic beauty and aesthetic might not be completely gone in fashion, but it has to share the limelight with speed, novelty, and the need to rise up above the noise.

“When you think about the fact that previous generations used to wait 3-4 days to get their holiday photos developed and the kids of today often take down photos off social media in the first few minutes if it doesn’t seem to be getting the traction they expected, it’s no surprise that today’s Instagram youth don’t want to hold on to fashion for anything longer than half a season. We live in a world that’s evolving a million times faster than we are; it’s to be expected that modern day industries (including fashion) are changing faster than ever before to keep up with expectations and an ever-shortening attention span.”

Ira Giorgetti is currently working on a few instant film photography projects as well as the never ending renovations to his home studio.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Ira Giorgetti @iraisavampire

www.iragiorgetti.com

MODELS:

James at AMCK Models @james_fairweather

www.amckmodels.com/models//513

Sander at Nevs Models @saanderr

www.nevsmodels.co.uk/models/sander

STYLIST

David Cochrane @david.james.c

www.styledbydavidjames.com

STYLIST’S ASSISTANT

Kate Sutton

MAKE-UP: Sophie Moore @sophiem.mua

www.sophiemooremakeup.co.uk

HAIR: Rom Sartipi @romsartipi

www.romsartipi.com