EXPRESS YOURSELF: “Stop smiling. That’s your model face,” goes the voiceover in one of Calum Harper’s frenetic, funny videos, which has racked up roughly 50 million views on TikTok.
But “expressive” is what Harper answered when he was cast by the Karl Lagerfeld brand for its fall 2024 campaign and was posed the question: “How do you define an icon?”
The British model has been credited with helping to demystify modeling and having a jolly old time through stressful castings, poking fun at his stress-induced breakouts, gangly limbs and red hair.
The brand selected three “emerging talents” for the campaign, lensed by Chris Colls.
Raya Martigny in the Karl Lagerfeld campaign.
Chris Colls
The others are transgender model, actress and activist Raya Martigny, who was among those stalking a banquet table-turned-runway during the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games; and Kat Q, whom Karl Lagerfeld describes as a “non-conformist fashion muse.”
Kat Q is also cofounder and buying director of Labstore London, a high-end multibrand boutique.
Alyda Grace, a ballet dancer turned fashion model, rounds out the personalities in the campaign, which puts the spotlight on “elevated statement pieces,” according to the fashion house.
It also telegraphs the late founder’s penchant for graphic dressing in black and white, and for spiking minimal looks with high-impact elements.
Harper rocks a black suit, Lagerfeld’s go-to uniform, while Martigny wears a cold-shoulder dress with a high-white collar, synonymous with the German fashion icon.
Kat Q in Karl Lagerfeld’s fall campaign.
Chris Colls
