BEFORE THE LAST DANCE
My name is JC Candanedo and I am a London-based Visual Artist. This is my fashion photography story called Before The Last Dance, which I shot back in 2016 in response to the rush and the burnout that a significant number of people working in the Fashion Industry experience particularly due to the very busy calendar of events.
The year started with London Collection Men, then the Haute Couture shows, after that in March we had ready-to-wear, May was Cruise, June LCM again, July Couture again, September Ready-to-Wear, November Resort and then back to square one. It was as if we were all running a race but no one really knew where the finish line was. We just followed the money and saw where it took us.
This fashion editorial featured a group of young people having fun in a club, channelling the days when we used to party as if the world would end as soon as the DJ played the last song. We constantly have a feeling in the Fashion Industry like there is never enough time and this experience leads to burnout. In 2019, Olivia Pinnock, founder of The Fashion Debates, and I hosted a panel debate where we discussed the link between working in Fashion and struggling with one’s mental health.
Employees in creative careers such as Fashion are 25% more likely to experience mental illness. The hidden cost of production of the Fashion Industry is not the money. It’s often someone. As creatives, we are expected to draw inspiration from our lowest-low in order to create, and it’s a lot of time to spend down there. That is why supportive communities are very important.
We also need to keep the conversation on Mental Health going. The Fashion Industry is formed by people who really love what they do, sometimes at the expense of themselves. That is a high price to pay to keep businesses running, and it’s the most expensive cost that the industry faces.
The series was created in collaboration with stylist Laetitia Tomasso, Makeup Artist Kerrie Jane Bailey and Hair Stylist James Bickmore. The models are Aaliyah, Layla, Rachel Marzo, Lumear and Daniel Wing from First Model Management.
The work was featured on:
The Fashion Edition of Pump Magazine.