Fashion Heroes

2026 Book

Created for THE FACE in 1989 — reimagined as a limited‑edition artist’s book (500 copies)

Ha ! Ha ! Ha !

Showdown !

The 2026 Book

While preparing his contribution to the 2025 Culture Shift exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, Stephane Sednaoui decided to revisit the Fashion Heroes series he worked on for The Face magazine in 1989, now reimagined in the form of a book.

This series was a continuation of Stephane's ongoing inventive practice of artistic cut-outs and collage, and with this project, he transformed five star designers, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, Azzedine Alaïa, Thierry Mugler, and Martine Sitbon into a larger vision of a joyful, cosmic odyssey of characters in outer space, his visuals fueled by the dazzling energy of pop and film culture.

The book revisits the Fashion Heroes project produced in 1989 for The Face, by reusing an original layout Stephane conceived for his exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art in Miami in 1993.

With this design, it is both a book and a sculptural object that unfolds. Enclosed within a solid slipcase, both its sides display the iconic fashion designers. Sliding out from its case is a second protective box, wrapped with two new images, from which a striking tri-fold folder slides out, which is meant to be held and opened flat. As the folder opens, panoramic images unfurl on either side, until at the very center, lies the book itself.

The book itself defies conventional format and must be viewed flat. It has no spine or pages that turn. Instead, it is a layered assemblage of sevenfold-out panels-with each section in a leporello structure-all anchored at the center. These sections unfold in zig-zag form and can be viewed page by page, or fully expanded into a panoramic display. Each portrays a different piece from the series. The object opens both horizontally and vertically-left, right, and upward-and when fully extended, measures more than 2.7 meters wide by 1.1 meters deep.

The reverse side features solarized black-and-white images that show captured moments behind the scenes. The act of folding and unfolding this book reveals hidden layers, so that the discovery of new expected imagery rewards tactile exploration and close engagement.

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

Title: Fashion Heroes
Artist: Stephane Sednaoui
ISBN: 978-1-966694-99-1
Publisher: SSSSS Editions
Size: A3
Limited edition of 500 copies
Printed in Japan

Available for shipping from 2026.

Attack !

Each book comes wrapped in tracing paper with
a minimal sticker finish.

The Original Project

In 1989, in an era of transformative youth culture, Stephane unveiled his iconic Fashion Heroes story within The Face magazine. Opening with the magazine cover, it unfolded across 26 exuberant pages, adding Stephane’s dynamic signature to an already vibrant world of 1980s pop culture photography. Here, he merged the bold aesthetics of pop art with the kinetic visual language of superhero comics, crafting a playful and innovative body of work.

”You’d be surprised how hard it is to teach people to fly” says photographer Stephane Sednaoui. His epic Fashion Heroes cover story is the fruit of over two months hard labour, of which the initial shoot was just the start. After taking the pictures, Stephane spent weeks cutting out the images by hand, creating montages that he photographed, and making 10 to 15 transparencies of each idea with different effects and colours.

excerpt from The Face Magazine,
October 1989

Charles Cowles Gallery
New York City

July 1993