Fashion Army

Matthieu Nicol’s Fashion Army undertakes a unique investigation of the evolution of military attire into iconic fashion. With exclusive access to a declassified US Army archive, Nicol presents 350 images tracing the transformation of military style from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. These rarely seen images show the meticulous development of uniforms designed to meet the demands of the battlefield as well as everyday military life, as well as being ambiguous images of masculinity and selfhood. Nicol focuses on the awkward yet familiar nuances of individuals posing, with their tentative smiles and uneasy stances. Through these compellingly edited and sequenced images, Fashion Army forms an account of style, innovation, and the enduring and charged impact of military attire on popular fashion and identity, offering a nuanced reading of how the military’s necessity becomes fashion’s trend. Includes an essay by renowned fashion critic Angelo Flaccavento, offering critical perspective on the interplay between military functionality and the fashion industry.

Matthieu Nicol est un éditeur d'images indépendant français, collectionneur d'images et commissaire d'exposition. Il a publié Better Food for Our Fighting Men (RVB Books, Paris, 2022), en puisant dans les archives des laboratoires de science alimentaire de Natick Labs. Ce travail a été présenté dans de nombreux festivals à travers l'Europe. Fashion Army représente le deuxième chapitre de son exploration des archives photographiques de Natick Labs. Né en 1978, Nicol vit et travaille à Paris, où il dirige le cabinet de conseil culturel Too Many Pictures.