Neiman Marcus // Pre-Fall 2019

So we left our city of skyscrapers, and went out—way out—into the open desert. With just a skeleton crew, a handful of simple props, and the vast, unforgiving dunes, we captured the looks of the new season in striking, edgy style. Model McKenna Hellam floats above the barren landscape like the mirage of an oasis on a scalding day. As the sun beats down on top of us, we can’t help but wonder if we are seeing who we are or who we want to be. We collaborated on this campaign with photographer David Roemer, and upped the visual ante for the brand. 

While executing the larger fall 2019 campaign for Neiman Marcus, East of Normal shot an exclusive video for Chanel with model Xiao Wen Ju. The collection was inspired by Egypt and the mysteries of the ancient world, and East of Normal highlighted it’s geometric patterns, scarabs and shades of gold against a complementary backdrop of strong lines and blocks of color. In the video, Xiao shimmers above the sand like the ghost of Cleopatra, ready to tame the desert and ride her camel into the sunset.