Postcard #2 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Peter Hujar. Opera Gloves- Jean Peal Gaultier.
In 1983, photographer Peter Hujar (1934–87) created Twelve Perfect Christmas Gifts from Dianne B, a mini-portfolio of 12 postcards. Eight are by Huja, plus four in colour by Neil Winokur and a sleeve by Ken Tisa.
The postcards for maverick boutique owner Dianne Benson are lovely examples of how innovative art and fashion were wed in the 1980s.The Dianne B postcard portfolio was mailed to costumers in October 1983.
Postcard #1 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Peter Hujar. Silk Suede Gloves- Jean Paul Gaultier.
Dianne B showcased the likes of Issey Miyake and Jean-Paul Gaultier as well as Benson’s own designs. Her store in NYC’s SoHo was one of the first fashion outlets in an area populated by many artists and galleries.
In summer 1983 Benson partnered with designer Rei Kawakubo, and opened the first Comme des Garçons store in New York (the rather snotty store where they unlocked the door to let you in and locked it behind you). A champion of avant-garde designs – she once said that Comme des Garçons’s creations would “never go out of style because they never were in style”.
After seeing Cindy Sherman’s work in a SoHo gallery and recruiting her for a Dianne B advertisement in Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, Benson began to use more downtown artists for her promotion and advertising.
Postcard #3 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Peter Hujar. Scarf- Junichi Arai, Anthrologie.
Postcard #4 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Peter Hujar. Man in Shirt- David Wojnarowicz. Ultimate Man’s Shirt designed by Issey Miyake.
Postcard #5 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Neil Winokur. Clothes in Color- Jaqueline Jacobson, Dorothée Bis.
A blanket (designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac), arranged to look like a shrouded figure, is draped over a chair that was one of Hujar’s most frequently used studio props. Hujar’s propensity to show people from above, reclining, or in bed, is present in a card with his friend Greer Lankton covered in Castelbajac’s bedsheets. A postcard featuring silk suede gloves by Gaultier features a cross-dressed man. In another, Hujar photographed his close friend David Wojnarowicz wearing an Issey Miyake shirt while peeling an apple with a knife. The twelfth card in the set portrays the project’s patron Dianne Benson, in a languid pose with wet hair, closed eyes, and sporting ivory bracelets from her signature collection.
Postcard #6 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Neil Winokur. Such a jumpsuit- Dianne B.
Postcard #7 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Neil Winokur. Oh Issey – The cowl neck, the belts.
Postcard #8 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Neil Winokur. White linen Kazuyuki Moriyama, Dianne B.
Postcard #9 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Peter Hujar. Blanket by Jean Charles de Castelbajac.
Postcard #10 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Peter Hujar. Sheets- Jean Charles de Castelbajac.
Postcard #11 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Peter Hujar. Cape, edition of sixteen- Limited Issey Miyake.
Postcard #12 for Dianne B.’s Christmas Catalogue, 1983. Photo by Peter Hujar. Ivory Bracelets and modeling by Dianne B.
Red folded portfolio sleeve created for Dianne Benson’s The Twelve Perfect Gifts from Dianne B, 1983. Illustration on from by artist Ken Tisa. Design of the sleeve by Ken Tisa and Laura Karp.
In the 1990s Benson closed her shops and moved to East Hampton where she took up landscape design and authored the book Dirt, The Lowdown On Growing A Garden With Style (1994).
Images via the brilliant Gallery98.