The Most Expensive Photoshoot In Fashion History: The Great Fur Caravan
365 days of fashion: the e-ncyclopedia of fashion
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
When Diana Vreeland was editor-in-chief of American Vogue from 1963 to 1971, she brought a sense of fantasy and adventure to the magazine. For instance, she enjoyed staging photoshoots for editorials at exotic locations. One of them was “The Great Fur Caravan”.
Everything about this photoshoot is impressive.
Photographer: the legendary Richard Avedon
The model: Veruschka, the it model of the 1960s
Location: Japan
Duration: 5 weeks
Cost: $1 million (equivalent to approximately $7.5 million nowadays)
Although this editorial is often credited to Diana Vreeland, the editor of this story was actually Polly Mellen. It was one of her first assignments for Vogue.
The editorial, titled “The Great Fur Caravan. A Fashion Adventure Starring the Girl in the Fabulous Furs Photographed for Vogue in the Strange Secret Snow Country of Japan” appeared in the October 1966 issue of Vogue across 26 pages. It became known as the most expensive - and iconic - photoshoot in the history of Vogue and fashion in general.
But besides its high cost, which made D.V the most costly editor of Vogue, (she was ultimately fired for her budgetary excesses)