Leo is the image of a young, lively youth, whose prototype is the image of young Leonardo DiCaprio.
The new generation increasingly perceives information visually through social networks. Content becomes faster, more accessible, and fragmented. People read books and delve into archives less and less, and cultural symbols of past generations like Britney, Michael, Cher, and many others who gradually fade from the memory of Generation Z, turning into unexpected discoveries when an old track, video, or image suddenly goes viral on TikTok or Instagram, then is reinterpreted and transformed into endless content.
Are archives, then, a kind of second-hand information, or do they still carry an educational function, serving as a transformation of the informational language?
The filming of Leo as a concept explores this question. It is no secret that behind any powerful visual image is meticulous work by creative teams and references to archives, aesthetics, and the experiences of previous generations. We inevitably study the past to create something new.
Today, culture is consumed not through original sources but through an endless chain of interpretations, reposts, AI-generated content, and viral fragments. Now, a young DiCaprio is not just a 90s actor but a digital memory of a time that the new generation has never known.
Perhaps today’s archive really resembles an informational second-hand. But that is its value: the images and experiences of others, enduring through time, gain new life through our artistic interpretation.
Fashion cannot exist without archives because every new image is always born from the memory of the previous one. And it is up to us whether a photograph becomes vintage or transforms into informational second-hand.
Photographer: ARTHUR ISKANDAROV
Stylist: ALEX KLOP
Model: DOMINIK DATKO @ UNCOVER MODELS
Production: JENYA HARMEL
Assistant: ANNA
