Candice, Saskia, Anais + | Mert & Marcus | Interview Magazine September 2011 | 'Strict'

On the heels of Stella Tennant’s Vogue Italia editorial we move to Mert & Marcus and the bondage theme revealed for the September 2011 issue of Interview. Karl Templer styles models Candice Swanepoel, Saskia de Brauw, Anais Pouliot, Zuzanna Bijoch and Emily Baker in bondage dressing from Azzedine Alaia, Salvatore Ferragamo, Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen.

My only comment on the styling is that since the clothes themselves can be worn by either a dominant or submissive woman, a dominant-woman accessory — a flogger perhaps — would be a welcome psychological contrast to the dog collars.

As Interview points out, this severe vision of fashion is strongly rooted in Alexander McQueen’s vision of fashion, Givenchy and now Louis Vuitton. Its roots lie in aristocratic-Brit-punk of English eccentrics. Remember that sexual repression and guilt ran rampant among the Victorians.