We are pleased to announce our third collaboration with the talented Parisian stylist and lingerie designer, Yasmine Eslami.

Inspired by California in the 70s, this capsule collection revisits the boxer shorts in a very sensual-meets-boyish way. Declined in two pastel colours, these sweet creations are meant to be worn near the pool, on the beach, during a sunny afternoon walk or even while lazying at home…!

Available now on Maison Kitsuné’s online shop and in all Maison Kitsuné boutiques!

Shot by Henrik Purienne !

South-african photographer and founder of Mirage Magazine, Henrik Purienne shot the most beautiful girls all around the world.

We had the chance to interview him last year and as admirers of his unique eye, decided to let him behind the camera for Maison Kitsuné spring/summer 2014 ambiant lookbook. 

Capturing truth and inspiration, he strolled around the city with our three protagonists – Sky Ferreira, Heather Boo and Jonny Pierce.

Kitsuné Journal wanted to know everything about this new experience; illustrate New York – New Wave with a new interview !

We had the chance to interview you last year, hello again ! 

New Year. New Interview.

What  does “New York – New Wave” mean to you ?

It’s like.. a revolution, man.

More importantly, and i cannot emphasise this enough.. it sounds really cool.

The repetition.. the alliteration.. as a metaphor of course.

Shooting in New-York, do you still think of it as the city of dreams ?

It must be.. loneliness leads to more vivid dreams.

Your signature is the “Total Naked” , was it a challenge to shoot a lookbook where clothes are the focus point? 

My signature is actually a ‘P’ that looks like a wave with a sunset.. informed by Miro’s early work.

What is your favorite part of the human body ?

The soul. Definitely the soul.

Or.. maybe a perfect tanned ass.. in a neon g-string.

To you, who is the Maison Kitsuné woman ?

She’s a little fox. Sexy and clever. Sometimes too clever for her own good.

One day she is in the library.. reading psychology.. the next day she’s in the back alley, savaging about for some rats.

Could you describe in a few words this first experience with Maison Kitsuné  ?

Fun. Organised chaos. Just the way I like it..

What is the thought process of a photographer to prepare an ambiant shoot like this, with a story ?

Sure sure.. I have a couple of quirky rituals.. First thing is to, like, walk.. just walk the streets. Barefoot. Sometimes for 40 days.

Next I manifest visual references in my third eye.. in this case, NY, aka ‘the big apple’.. I visualise an apple.. Also, I only ate apples the week before the shoot. Metaphysical.. to physical. Or shooting Sky Ferreira.. I imagine.. the.. sky. In her case, the night sky. Or let’s take Heather Boo.. I spend several hours at the one-hour photo lab looking through the ‘boo-boo’ bin.. searching for fragments of discarded memory.

Did you already worked with Sky Ferreira, Jonny Pierce or Heather Boo ? 

Not in the physical sense, no.

You mostly shoot girls, was it a strange experiment having to shoot Jonny ?

Are you kidding me? It was fucking weird.. what a trip!

Which Maison Kitsuné spring/summer piece would you pick to wear right now? 

The sporty grey sweater with the white writing.. such a classic piece.

Makes me fee like an alcoholic french Rocky Balboa.

Your new book came out recently, could you talk a bit about it ? 

Yes. I can. The ban was lifted. The book is really just a collection of random snapshots of my friends on holiday around Cape Town, Los Angeles and the South of France.

You seem to shoot mostly blondes?

I guess. Let me reflect on that.. Here’s the thing.. I grew up in dusty South African town called Worcester. More specifically, I grew up on the grounds of the school for the deaf where my father was a psychologist. So it was only natural that my first girl crush was on a deaf girl. And what do most deaf girls have in common (besides also wearing spectacles for some strange reason)? They are mostly blonde. Who knows why. Nowadays the deafness is somewhat optional, but I still fall in love with blondes. I’m nostalgic like that..

We follow you on Instagram, do you really take smartphone pictures or are you cheating ?

Well I follow you in real life, and you are cheating with your diet.

I saw you have a piece of yummy cake at that hip new Kitsune Cafe..

Photos credits: Henrik Purienne 

Womanhood hedonist, the photographer and filmmaker Henrik Purienne is a nakedness purist!

He has shot the most beautiful girls around the world, as Becca Nova, Kristi Vlok or Sonja Van Den Heever, wholly or nearly nude for his own pleasure and many brands, and also for Mirage Magazine he found.

We found interesting his neo-Playboy point of view, and when interviewing him, we realize that behind this “frivolous” image was hidding a man simply passionate by life’s beautiful things.

Read his interview below!

How did everything start?

Between making documentary films on the blind, I started shooting my girlfriends on holidays and hanging around the house. Which, in South Africa at least, often means half nude by the pool or on the beach…

Would you define your activity as a new kind of aphrodisiac photography?

Yeah it is like that time Lord Kingsbury candy flipped in the Tyger Valley parking lot and couldn’t feel his arms.

The first time a photographic inspiration began ringing in your head?

When I was a teen I used to walk the streets of Worcester, my hometown in South Africa… Portraits of wannabe satanists, lost dogs and plastic bags blowing in the wind, you know. I had a great teacher and a skeleton key to the art school darkroom…

Do you sometimes feels like the luckiest man on the planet or are you tired of watching tits all day long?

That question makes me feel like a tit.

Could you tell us more about your brand new book?

It’s a collection of snapshots and portraits taken between Cape Town, Los Angeles and the South of France over the past 3 years. Published by Prestel Verlag.

You’ve also raised Mirage Magazine, which philosophy is ruled as “fashion, swimwear and jet set hedonism”. How would you explain the “jetset hedonism” concept?

It refers to freedom of movement and choice.

Why the name “Mirage“?

Cause life (and fashion) is an illusion.

Could you confirm that the most beautiful women live in Paris?

Sure, the most beautiful women live in Paris. But they’re not from Paris.

Which music title would you advise for a night of love?

“The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel.

Brad Elterman compared you to him during his Playboy Mansion years, what do you think about that? 

I think brad compared me to ‘ol hef? Either is fine by me.

Which importance do you grant to the clothes in the magazine’s shootings?

It’s pretty… pretty… pretty directional. Lame ‘creative’ styling is a big downer for us.

When you’re not at undressing girls, how do you like to dress yourself?

I like to drape myself in velvet.

According to you, which one of all the naked beauties you shot was the most charming?

Kitty, the cat my girlfriend stole from the neighbours in Cape Town. She knew just how to work the camera and had the most intense hungry eyes (turned out she was starving).

What are you currently working on?

The BECCA book. A bunch of personal images of my girlfriend. Also moving back into some film projects… I’m thinking Koi-San of the Kalahari.

Will you change of topic one day and choose to shoot, for example, cute kitten? 

I’m working on a ‘sunset’ serie. Shot in black and white.

Photos Credit: Henrik Purienne.