Photographer Imraan Christian and stylist Gabrielle Kannemeyer have been working with Andpeople and adidas to put together a co-creation studio at AREA3 in Cape Town. They have been appointed the Creative Directors, which involves them being in charge of the fluid structure that makes up the programme. They have put together talks and workshops.
The idea behind the programme is to allow young creators in Cape Town the opportunity to be introduced to a studio space and work collaboratively under the guidance of Gabrielle and Imraan. With adidas as the supporter for the project, creators were provided with three apparel and footwear drops from June to August – June being Campus, July the NMD and August will be the EQT.
Imraan explained that the plan is for the studio to produce 4 shoots per week featuring the products allocated each month. Creatives have been encouraged to push boundaries with regards to styling, concept and execution. “We are pushing them to think unconventionally about the cube,” Imraan explained.
“We thought a work studio would be a great place to share teach and learn – it’s an extremely intimidating place to be if you’re not used to being there (all the lights and complicated machines and people watching, etc.). We want to dismantle the fear and teach them that anywhere you create in is a home,” Imraan explained.
Imraan and Gabrielle have been working with the creatives in the space helping them from the initial phases of conceptualization to execution and post production. “You’ll find us in the space helping creators build and execute their projects every Friday, Saturday and Sunday alongside Ra-ees Saiet, our space manager who runs the space by managing the foot traffic, assisting in bookings for creatives to shoot their projects, John Second our studio manager who teaches the creators how to operate and set up the equipment as well as Keenan Oliver our studio’s general co-coordinator and producer.”
With this sharing of knowledge and resources, Imraan hopes that it will aid these creators in getting a foot in the door and encouraging a sense of community amongst them.
The creators part of this programme are Dune Tilley, Reagan Paulsen, Hope Motlepa, Haneem Christian, Aidan Groenewald, Jaimi Robin, Ciara Madella, Conway October, Alexandra Truter, Joshua Pascoe, Sara Lagardien, and Thandi Gula-Ndebele.
