Ex Libris

We like a story well told. So it‘s no wonder that Belle Chiara‘s imaginative lookbook presentation took us by storm!

Combining artful photography with the world of the written word is quite an original concept. Appropriately titled Ex Libris, this lookbook is poetic and lets our minds wander, just like the new collection does. Photographer Olga May has worked with the brand on several occasions before, so it seemed a natural choice when the brand‘s owner Julia teamed up with her again to interpret the designer’s magnificent idea through her lens.

The lookbook was shot in Libreria Lello, the spectacularly beautiful old bookstore in Porto. Even though the team caught a rainy production day (yes, this happens even in sunny Portugal!), Olga managed to capture everything in a beautiful manner. The use of natural daylight gives the images a pure, almost painterly renaissance feel. Paired with some surreal twists in the compositions, we find ourselves in a magical world. According to Olga, one of the most fun parts was the production of one particular campaign photo (shot in the bookstore). As the team tried to hide the model’s mask, they were looking for a book to cover her face, and eventually found one about the art of Leonardo Da Vinci, thus creating their own, modern Mona Lisa.

Olga credits the models as being fantastic and easy to work with, although they did not speak the same language! Besides, the team didn’t have official permission to shoot in the store. Buying visitor’s tickets, they just took their shots, pretending to be regular tourists. When working with the right people, taking a little risk seems to add to the fun!

Add the subtle, yet very effective graphic design by Jotateam. It gives the images space to breathe and evokes a classic, book-like feeling, pairing the photography with full-page soft-grey backgrounds that resemble handmade paper. The lookbook also features some noteworthy quotes from the likes of Johannes Gutenberg, famous for inventing typography in the 1450s. We close this article by sharing one of our favourites: Reading is the art of the word, it has the power to magnify minds and, yes, take over the world.

Ex Libris

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Olga May
CREATIVE DIRECTION BY Julia González from Belle Chiara
STYLING BY Julia González & Helen Aguilar
HAIR & MAKEUP BY Helen Aguilar
MODELS María from Happy Kids Models, Mariana & Rita
GRAPHIC DESIGN BY Jotateam Studio
BRAND DIRECTOR Julia González

Check out different collections of Belle Chiara here