You just got lucky: a little behind the scenes peek at our superstition-themed photo shoot from issue 13.

photography by Samantha Walton

Arden Wray lives in Toronto and just graduated from the photography program at Concordia University in Montreal. She recently shot an editorial spread for issue 12 of WORN, and sometimes takes photos for our blog. Arden is (almost naturally) friends with Yuli Sato, another Montreal photographer and a recent WORN Crush. Arden talks to WORN about silly high school phases, Britney and Justin’s matching outfits at the American Music Awards, and the inspiration behind her shoot in issue 12.

What’s your favourite fashion publication, and why do you like it?
My favourite fashion magazine is Lula, hands down. I’m a total dork and hold onto all the issues, so I’ve got a big stack of them in my bedroom. I really appreciate how finely they’ve tuned their aesthetic. It’s really consistent in its palette and feel, so after a while it kind of seems like hanging out with an imaginary girlfriend flipping through it. They profile really interesting women and frame it all in such a sweet, earnest, conversational way. It just makes me feel really good to look through it, which is definitely not what I’d say about a lot of fashion magazines.

What did you dress like in high school? Has your style changed much since then?
I went through all sorts of silly phases. Nothing too extreme, just more awful in hindsight than anything. Picture evenly spaced blonde highlights, too much makeup, and platform flip-flops. I like to think it wasn’t all my fault. My friends and I joke about the period between 1999 and 2003 as being “The Void” — just a total style wasteland where pretty much nobody looked good. I would point here to Britney and Justin’s matching denim cowboy get-ups at the 2001 American Music Awards. An IMDB search of the 2001 Teen Choice Awards gallery is also pretty stellar entertainment. So, from there, my style has changed pretty hugely. I think it was in about ninth grade that I really discovered vintage and fell in love. Now, I love wearing classic pieces, natural materials like cotton and leather, and neutral colours. I’m hugely inspired by the look and feel of Chloe.

What’s your favourite photo or series you’ve ever taken?
I think the work I feel most connected to is the “Nesting” series I completed in 2010. I worked on it from this place of just being so completely at peace with where I was at in my life. I was in love and just kind of lazily happy, spending time with close friends and building a home for myself, and I wanted to create a document of that experience.

Have any fashion photographers in particular influenced your work?
I definitely love the aesthetic of Juergen Teller. I’m more influenced by fine art photographers, however, than fashion photographers generally. Stephen Shore and William Eggleston were some of the first artists who got me really excited about the potential of photography and inspired me to start shooting. In terms of people working right now, I’m a big fan of Alec Soth. All of them share a really raw, honest quality in their work which I hugely admire and respond to.

If you could take a photo of anyone, anywhere in the world, living or dead, who would it be and why?
I’d love to be able to photograph my mother’s mother, who died before I was born. Even though I never met her, my mom always tells me ways in which we’re similar and little stories about her. She designed fabulous hats for her living, had a huge personality, and just seems like somebody who would be so warm and delightful to be around. I’d love the experience of taking her portrait and getting to know her in the process.

Can you tell us about the photo shoot you did for issue 12 of WORN?
Setting out for the shoot, we were playing with this idea of two girls sort of camping out in a space but making it their own. We wanted a very luxurious, vintage vibe to the whole thing but to play with the feeling of something always being a little bit off as well — a sort of Margot Tenenbaum meets Dallas vibe. We ended up having the opportunity to shoot in a super ’90s condo in Montreal which belonged to the parents of the art director, Pascale. The space was hilarious — no right angles, mirrors everywhere, intense carpeting, and lots and lots of peachy-bandaid coloured paint. We had a super lovely team of ladies on set and our models were two of my babe friends, Ming and Sadaf, so the energy was high, even though it ended up being a long day, and we all had a good time. It was funny incorporating some of the silly props we did — chinese takeout (which we all happily munched on before using), a big palm tree (which Serah-Marie and Ted bravely lugged to the set), and sparklers in the elevator (which almost set off the fire alarm and called for evacuation of the whole complex). In between chatting about Jordan Catalano and Twin Peaks, ogling Natasha Thomas’s gorgeous designs, and grooving to silly music, we managed to get some really great shots! I love the spread and I hope the readers will too.

Interview by Stephanie Fereiro
Photos by Arden Wray

Montrealer Yuli Sato spends her time creating photographs of unseen other worlds with an assortment of thrifted vintage cameras. Yuli studies at Concordia University. Her photos are haunting but beautiful, often taking place in deserted snowy forests, upon grassy hilltops, or in empty indoor swimming pools. Yuli talks to WORN about butterfly clips, school uniforms and chai lattes.

What’s the last fashion publication you read?
Lula, but I haven’t actually looked through it thoroughly yet even though I got it a few months ago. I love the overall aesthetic; they’re not as concerned with showing the clothes in a commercial way and its general mood lures me in. I also dig the interviews.

How has your style changed since elementary school?
Quite a bit. I grew up in the ’90s, so I was obsessed with wearing those woven plastic necklaces. Platform sneakers and butterfly clips were also big for me. I think I was a little too young to really get the full effect of the ’90s, but my sister is three years older and was such a ’90s teen - it was so fantastic. She rocked bell-bottom jeans, cropped tanks and flannel.

I’ve been trying to move toward a more classic look lately, so I only buy things I know I will like in five or ten years, as opposed to something super trendy. If I ever feel like dressing a little crazy, I’ll shop at a thrift store so I don’t feel guilty if I don’t end up liking things in the long run. I just bought an amazing Navajo print blazer, a floral maxi dress, black maxi skirt, and a few giant men’s sweaters at Goodwill for less than $20.

How did attending a boarding school with uniforms affect your personal style?
There wasn’t much room for having fun and experimenting. It was so easy getting up and throwing on knee-high socks, a skirt, polo and blazer, but it definitely got boring after a while. It certainly made me appreciate fashion more - in my first year of university I wore a lot of crazy outfits to make up for lost time.

Heels or flats?
Heels if I could wear them every day. Alas, my feet cannot handle wearing heels so I suppose I’ll have to say flats, though I’m trying to train myself to wear heels at night so I don’t come home and collapse from foot pain.

If you had to dress like a lunchbox item, what would it be and what would you wear?
An extra large chai latte: all neutrals and maybe a light colored beret!

What is your favorite photo series? Why is it special?
“Ghost” from 2009. I wanted something creepy but still nostalgic and beautiful. It was a cold, November weekend and my good friend Amanda (the model in the series) and I went to my house on the Ottawa River and worked for two days straight, waking up at 7 a.m. to take photos by the river, then going over to our family friend’s place to shoot in their huge old house.

Where do you find inspiration for your photography?
At the moment I love photographers Annette Pehrsson and Hannah Davis. I’m also becoming interested in installation and environmental art - Andy Goldsworthy is an environmental artist from Britain whose film Rivers and Tides is just beautiful. I love the idea of art being transitory and I’m beginning to think of ways I can experiment with these ideas in my own work.

What role does fashion play in your work?
I want to get just the right amount of dreaminess, and clothes can either make it or break it. I want the viewer to immerse themselves in my photographs, and sometimes when the clothes are too over the top I find it distracting. As I deal with subjects surrounding childhood, nostalgia and girlhood, clothing is an important and considered contribution to the atmosphere I’m creating.

Interview by Alyssa Garrison
Photos by Yuli Sato

Liana Schmidt is a photographer whose work you may recognize from WORN’s “This Shit Ain’t Free” make-up column in every issue. Liana is also one half of Arianna, an art-duo, and she published an ever-charming book called Paper Dolls in 2007. Liana is a member of Toronto’s Mercer Union, and is helping organize this year’s OMG SWAP, a clothing swap where you can pay a $5 entrance fee and walk away with all you can carry. Watch out for expert hoarders - they may be violent.

You’re a part of Mercer Union, which promotes the production of art of all kinds. How does fashion fit in?

In a sense, fashion fits into Mercer’s culture because a lot of artists in and around the gallery can get especially creative with their clothing. On a more general level, fashion and art seem to influence each other and tend to be visual references from which we can look back on to define a particular time.

Can you tell us about the OMG SWAP? Why do you think it’s important to share and recycle clothing?

The OMG SWAP, conceived by Xenia Anemia of the Mercer Union board, is a fund-raising opportunity for the gallery and a community initiative; it’s also a great opportunity to socialize, cleanse your closet and find new pieces for spring. For a $5 entrance fee you can pillage a great deal of clothing and all leftover clothing will be donated to Sistering, a woman’s agency serving homeless, marginalized and low-income women in Toronto. Recycling clothing is an obvious inclination if you have ever seen the warehouses that vintage buyers pick from. There is a lot of excess clothing kicking around out there.

Many of your photographs are surreal and disturbing. What inspires this connection between fashion and the supernatural or dream-like?

Fashion is often otherworldly. Gareth Pugh and Alexander McQueen (R.I.P.), for example, have produced garments that err on the side of Science Fiction. he majority of the imagery I have done for WORN has come from Arianna, my collaboration with Erin Fraser. Our work comes from short attention spans, an interest in film and a bad sense of humour.

Do you think there is a difference is between “fashion photography” and photographs of people with nice clothing?

There is a difference. Fashion photography mainly serves to promote, whereas the latter encompasses a lot and suggests a more candid and documentary style - if you are referring to sites like Facehunter.

Where did you get the idea for your Paper Dolls book? How did you decide on what characters and outfits to include?

I wanted to put together a book project with the creative people around me and paper dolls seemed like a way to pay homage to my friends in a manner that perhaps only famous people are treated to. I asked subjects to bring a few outfits of their choice to my studio, where we sometimes improvised with materials lying around. I liked the idea that a stranger could have a lot of my friends cut out and lined up on their shelf. It’s weirdly intimate.

- Stephanie Fereiro