Illustrious fashion photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vindooh Matadin are on the move -- commemorating not one, but three, notable launches this week: a jewelry collection with Ten Thousand Things, a unisex fragrance with Byredo named "1996 Inez and Vinoodh," and a photography tome called Pretty Much Everything. As a bona fide âpower coupleâ in the fashion industry, Inez and Vinoodh's photography spans everything from major brand campaigns to stunning portraits of pop culture icons. At their launch on September 7 at Barneys New York, the couple talks to Toby Milstein about their many projects, their relationship, and who theyâre not interested in shooting, ever.
The Daily Beast: Is there a universal theme to all three of the launches: the book, the jewelry collection, and the fragrance?
Inez van Lamsweerde: All three items? The love between us, thatâs what itâs all about.
DB: How did your romantic and professional collaboration begin?
IvL: In art school in 1986.
DB: Ah, so why 1996? Is there something significant with regard to that year?
IvL: Yes, because itâs ten years after we met.
Vindooh Matadin: And thatâs when we moved to New York.
DB: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the fragrance?
IvL: We made that picture, itâs called âKirsten 1996.â We always said to ourselves, if we ever do a fragrance, this is going to be the image that itâs based on. So when Ben [Gorham] asked us, I said okay lets start from this and the duality thatâs in there: the darkness that lays underneath the sweetness. Thatâs how we created the scent.
VM: First they always create the scent and then the picture. And we said, how about we do it the other way around? First weâll create the picture.
DB: Who is the person youâd most like to style and photograph in the future?
IvL: Itâs hard because we just shot Prince and that was always the answer we had. So that happened.
DB: And whoâs next for you two?
IvL and VM: Cher, probably.
DB: How about shooting Miley Cyrus?
IvL: No thanks!!
