Acts of Faith and Daily Photographic Meditations: Zoot Magazine explores the collaboration between accessory designer Oliver Ruuger and photographer Nicol Vizioli
Text by Anna Battista
In our society making fashion can be a bit like an act of faith for a designer, since creating is a sort of personal sacrifice that often tests the strength of a designer’s convinctions. This is why the title of the installation – “Act of Faith” – oranised during the latest edition of London Fashion Week at the Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden by accessory designer Oliver Ruuger in collaboration with Italian photographer Nicol Vizioli sounded very apt.
“’Act of Faith’ actually refers to the personal religious nature of the making of the objects, referred not to the Christian religion, but to Maausk, the native nature worship from where I come from that can be best explained as believing that nature – trees, stones and so on – has a soul,” explains Ruuger. “Besides, I think that nowadays in fashion it is a bit of an act of faith to put on an exhibit without attempting to sell anything, but to try and share through it my views and my visions about how I want an object to be made.”
Among the new pieces Ruuger made to complement the installation there are also hats, gloves and a new umbrella, all modelled in Vizioli’s images by a character impersonating street musician, poet and inventor Moondog, better known as the “The Viking of 6th Avenue”. “It was fantastic to do a project together with Nicol based on Moondog who was a true eccentric and interesting character,” says Ruuger. “The images add another dimension to the work for me since photography puts the pieces in context as products next to the static exhibit where they might come across as sculptures.”
All images by Nicol Vizioli.
