Fashion Heroes

The Original Project

In 1989, at the heart of a transformative era for youth culture, artist Stephane Sednaoui unveiled Fashion Heroes in the pages of The Face magazine. Opening with the magazine’s cover and unfolding across 26 pages, he added his signature to the already vibrant world of 1980s pop culture photography—it was his way to close the decade with a firework of energy and fun.

With this series, Stephane Sednaoui expanded his world of cut-outs, merging the bold aesthetics of pop art with the kinetic visual language of superhero comics. It became a body of work that was both playful and inventive, turning five designers (Gaultier, Westwood, Alaïa, Mugler, and Sitbon) and their muses into characters within a larger vision—a cosmic spill odyssey fueled by the electric pulse of pop culture, which still resonates today.

Showdown

Danger!

Help!

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Attack

Cosmic spills

The heroes are losing. The future of Planet Fashion looks bleak. In a last, desperate attempt, the heroes call on The Creators, the elemental forces they bring to life.

The 2025 Book

While preparing his contribution to the 2025 Culture Shift exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, Stephane decided to revisit his Fashion Heroes series in the form of a book. For its design, he drew inspiration from the installation he had first conceived for the 1993 exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art in Miami.

It stands as both a time capsule of late ’80s energy and a celebration of its cultural spirit.

But this is not merely a book—it is a sculptural object, an unfolding experience. Enclosed in a solid slipcase—its weight is immediately felt in the hand—it bears the heroic presence of the five designers on both sides. Inside the case, there lies a second protective box, from which a striking tri-fold folder slides out, revealing panoramic images. As the folder opens, the book nestles at its centre—resting like a stratified black monolith.

Series of 30 chromogenic prints, 80 x 16 cm (31.4 x 6.2 inches)

The “book” defies conventional format and must be viewed flat: it has no spine, no turnable pages. Instead, it is a layered assemblage of seven fold-out panels—with each section in a leporello structure—all anchored to the center page. Each section unfolds in a single direction—either horizontally (to the left or right) or vertically (upward or downward)—and when fully extended, measures more than 2.7 metres wide by 1.1 metres deep.

The reverse side features solarized black-and-white images that offer a shadowed, behind-the-scenes counterpoint. These hidden layers reveal themselves only in the act of folding and unfolding, inviting tactile exploration and rewarding close engagement.

Part archive, part collage, part sculpture, this book is a celebration of Fashion Heroes not just as a photographic series, but as an immersive, physical encounter—an artwork in itself.