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Hipgnosis in fashion with Daisy Roots

Fashion shoots were little known aspect of the practice of design studio Hipgnosis, whose co-founder Storm Thorgerson died on Thursday.

In line with the approach Thorgerson and his partner Aubrey Powell took with their raft of album sleeve commissions, the series of fashion spreads Hipgnosis produced for Club International in the early 70s were visually arresting and often high concept.

This, from March 1972, features clothes from Tommy Roberts’ Mr Freedom as well as Take Six, Way In and a label I’ve not previously encountered, Hidegrade. The fancy footwear is by Daisy Roots, run by Richard Evans, who left the shoe business to become a prominent record sleeve designer in his own right as The Who’s art director.

Evans also worked with Hipgnosis from time to time; he was responsible for the lettering on a personal favourite of mine, The Edgar Broughton Band’s 1975 compilation A Bunch Of 45s.

Read my review of Richard Evans’ book The Art Of the Album Sleeve here.

Read The Daily Telegraph’s obituary of Storm Thorgerson here.

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