Justin and Chloey started working on their “Zodiac” series shortly after the first restrictions of the Covid pandemic were announced in France. The first sign we started with, Scorpio, had an outfit this was made from was relatively conventional materials; upholstery placed with lace stitched together, which was then accessorized with studs as well as tubing to add the insect aspect. The next sign we chose, was Pisces, and with Alicia modeling, the styling for this was based more on special effects makeup. Prosthetics were made for the ears and the seashell bikini. The cape and the rest of the layers were made from lace and then hot-glued into place to create texture. Trying to blend different cultures into the theme while keeping an overall cohesiveness to the series as a whole was a real creative challenge! Libra started by using chains as a base for the styling, and then we worked a color palette of oranges throughout the image to complement the styling.
We were able to get things together and actually managed to shoot Virgo and Gemini on the same day. The Virgo inspiration came right out of an anime version we had seen, depicting the character, and the Gemini vision involved the use of mirrors, which we decided was an effective way to express the duality of that sign. Taurus and Aries were also shot on the same day, we had to get creative with a few outfits, and this tourist outfit for Taurus was made from braided copper wire with the idea of giving it a matador/Spanish influence. It’s amazing the creative uses you can find for leftover Christmas tablecloths when you need to make an iridescent red cape! For Aries, the horns were actually sculpted out of Monster Clay and then cast in a plaster mold, through which we poured in silicon and painted that to create the horn texture. The outfit was mainly made from recycled sheepskins and the swords were made from plastic PVC pipes that had been heat molded and then painted. The next sign we shot was Capricorn. The crown of horns was sculpted out of foam and then coated with latex for them to be painted and attached to a wig that we also created for this look. The outfit was made from origami-folded recycled magazine pages.
The armor for Cancer was made from foam, along with the helmet, and we found some leftover cables we had available, giving us some nice details and we added some textured puff paint and created an outfit that had a science fiction/Egyptian feel which inspired our entire theme for this look.
Sagittarius was the last one to be shot (Editor’s note: saving the best for last!), as it was Chloey’s own sign she really identified with a post-apocalyptic styling that we had chosen for this one. The outfit was made from shredded bodysuits with the cables holding it all together, and while we had to be clever and creative to make it all work, I think we managed it!
As the costumes and outfits were being developed constant communication between Justin and Chloey insured a smooth workflow on the day of the shoot. Chloey already had a clear vision for the makeup and the colors she wanted to be using.
In the post-processing stage, they were often found duetting live on TIKTOK to show their followers the work in progress and also to be able to exchange ideas in real-time.
“The Covid crisis keeps us from being together as much as we would like to be, it doesn’t mean we can’t be close” – Chloey.
Model & Makeup Artist: Chloey Blondiaux
Photo & Words by Justin Gage
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