At Pitti Uomo in January this year, photographer Charles-Edouard Woisselin ( dgephoto.com @desgensenphoto) got to thinking about streetstyle. This genre of
photography, which has become increasingly popular with the advent of social media, is nothing new. In fact, some of
the earliest recorded photographs ever taken could feasibly be described as 'streetstyle' given that they documented
people literally on the street. As far back as the early 19th century, the likes of Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre,
John Thomson and Charles Nègre were documenting people in the street, although admittedly not with the eyes of the
late Bill Cunningham. But with the modern proliferation of the camera, and the obsessive nature with which people
consume social media, streetstyle photography has become an important medium for stylistic inspiration, as evidenced
by the now much maligned 'influencer'. The early days of instagram, before its mass commercialisation, did indeed
allow for the genuinely stylish to showcase their taste, making it a fantastically diverse compendium of styling
ideas, if you knew where to look. Today, it has become something of an echo chamber for the gloriously
self-infatuated, and when you throw in brand endorsements, paid posts and gifting, it soon becomes clear that true
style, the subject of Charles-Edouard Woisselin's photographic project in Pitti, is a scarce commodity...
"I've been thinking a lot lately about Street Style during fashion events and fairs, Pitti Uomo in
particular. To me there is no doubt that street style changed the industry, the way we see clothes and in
the case of Pitti Uomo, the way we perceive elegance. But although pictures and photographers have evolved, street
style during Pitti Uomo is still pretty basic. You have your picture taken at the entrance, then inside the Fortezza
da Basso, and then sometimes on your way out, maybe in a street adjacent to the fair. That's pretty much it. As more
and more people come to the fair - both attendants and photographers - it's getting harder and harder to get those
clean pictures. And so, my frustration with street style grew. I began thinking about the absurdity around Pitti
Uomo and the fact that we are in a city that is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable in Europe, and probably the
world, and yet have very few street style pictures in that city. I wanted to show that. I wanted to put back
the street in street style."
