Vogue Celebrates the 'Year of the Rabbit' with Artist Cai Guo-Qiang and Plenty of Gunpowder

Vogue Celebrates the 'Year of the Rabbit' with Artist Cai Guo-Qiang and Plenty of Gunpowder AOC Fashion

Assorted combinations of these images are playing out across Vogue US [IG] Winter 2023, a Vogue China [IG] ‘Year of the Rabbit’ supplement and [according to comments] British Vogue as well.

Models He Cong, Sherri Shi, Sora Choi and Yumi Nu are styled by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson in a celebratory, fashion-extravagance happening that was ignited by gunpowder.

New York-Paris based artist Theo Liu [IG] packed up his photography studio essentials, as the creative entourage assembled at contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang's studio.

The Chinese artist, who currently lives and works in New York City and New Jersey, is probably best known for the worldwide televised “fireworks sculpture” he created for the opening of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“The explosion event consisted of a series of 29 giant footprint fireworks, one for each Olympiad, over the Beijing skyline, leading to the National Olympic Stadium. The 29 footprints were fired in succession, traveling a total distance of 15 kilometers, or 9.3 miles, within a period of 63 seconds,” Cai [pronounced “Tsai”] told the press about the event.

Most artists would be beyond satisfied with the estimated billion pairs of eyes that watched the spectacle worldwide. Cai Guo-Qiang is not, which explains why his focus is aliens.

The massive scale of his events is an attempt to communicate with extraterrestrials, he tells the press for well over a decade. Is it a wink wink? Truth? Does it matter?

We return back to the artist’s studio for the day of the fashion shoot, where the models acted as interns.

Under Cai's guidance, they hand-carved stencils using a utility blade and extinguished the flying sparks of the explosion with cotton pompoms. Together, with the published photos, these images present a look behind-the-scenes.

In a message from Cai to all us who are fascinated with the dynamics of this fashion shoot:

“Wishing you a happy Lunar New Year. May the Year of the Rabbit bring you many dreams!”