Richard Avedon

When asked to name his idols, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld listed six: "Personally, my parents and my sister. Professionally, Tom Sachs, John Currin, and Richard Avedon for his photography." Avedon was an American photographer about whom The New York Times exalts, "His fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty, and culture for the last half-century."

He began his career snapping ID photos for the Merchant Marines but somehow managed to capture the attention of Alexey Brodovitch, art director for Harper's Bazaar at that time. Avedon soon established his own studio and began selling photos to magazines such as Life. From the beginning, he refused to conform to the industry standard for fashion photography, instead catching his models in action and full of emotion.

In 1966, Avedon started shooting for Vogue and was responsible for most of the covers from 1973 until late 1988. He became known for his large-format portraits, typically in a minimalist style with the subject posed against a stark white backdrop looking directly into the lens.

None other than the amazing Audrey Hepburn inspired Avedon as his muse during the 1950s and 1960s; as he says, "I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera. I cannot lift her to greater heights. She is already there. I can only record. I cannot interpret her. There is no going further than who she is. She has achieved in herself her ultimate portrait."

Avedon himself inspired the 1957 musical Funny Face, which stars Fred Astaire as the fashion photographer "Dick Avery." Clearly he provided many of the images used in the film as well including the most famous, an overexposed closeup of Hepburn in which we recognize the actress from just the details of her eyes, nose, and mouth. Note that Vladimir is not the only member of the Roitfeld family with fantastic taste in photographers, sister Julia is a fan as well with copies of Avedon's books Portraits and Woman in the Mirror in her library.

Richard Avedon photograph © 2008 The Richard Avedon Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face photograph by Richard Avedon © 2008 Phantom Sound & Vision. All Rights Reserved.

Cashmere

When it comes to fine fabrics, it seems the entire Roitfeld family is partial to cashmere. We've read that Carine has shelves full of black and beige cashmere sweaters to wear, no surprise there. What is surprising is that both of her children prefer cashmere headgear. Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld can be seen above wearing a cashmere hat from Dior which he says is his favorite accessory and which he wears in any season. I do love how he is mixing the plaid and the stripes, very dapper. (I should also note that this is the first photograph in which I have seen him smoking a cigarette, that's a disappointment.) Julia Restoin-Roitfeld is really pushing the boundaries of the fabric, she is pictured below wearing a cashmere turban! It's too bad the trend never really caught on but we must credit her for trying.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld photograph courtesy of misterleroy.blogspot.com.
Carine Roitfeld and Julia Restoin-Roitfeld photograph copyright © 2009 New York Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Marco Perego

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld counts the artist Marco Perego amongst his closest friends. To give full credit, I think that the Roitfeld love for Perego and his eccentric work may be a family affair. Carine featured him in a recent issue of Vogue Paris and is reportedly collecting his work. Also, I am fairly certain that this Minnie Mouse drawing that hangs on Julia's living room wall is Perego's style.

This former soccer star is known for his controversial and icononclastic paintings, often a fantasy that perverts images that we take for granted as innocent. For example, in Perego's painting shown here of Snow White, she drops all pretensions of virginity as well as her knickers in front of the Seven Dwarves. Osé, non ? I think the Roitfeld admiration for Perego is a natural, given Carine's talent for evoking iconoclastic images and causing controversy.

Finally, may I be the first to say that I think Marco and Julia would make a gorgeous couple, dark versus light, fine skin and bones all, here's the proof...

Marco Perego photograph © 2009 Luca Telese. All Rights Reserved.
Photograph of Minnie Mouse illustration by Marco Perego © 2009 Todd Selby. All Rights Reserved.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves painting by Marco Perego image source: Luxuo
Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Marco Perego photograph source: The Fashion Spot
Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld and Marco Perego photograph courtesy of oystermag.com.