German photographer Cathleen Naundorf offers her own account (from her official site) of the staged fashion photography that has made her famous and placed her work in all the top magazines –
"Since 2005, Cathleen Naundorf has worked on her haute couture series “Un rêve de mode” focusing on six couture houses: Chanel, Dior, Gaultier, Lacroix, Elie Saab and Valentino. Thanks to her outstanding pictures, Cathleen Naundorf got the privilege to choose gowns from the couturiers’ archives for her elaborate and cinematic productions. Part of her detailed set-up is also her free choice of models, locations and hair and make-up designers. All of these careful preparations are preceded by intensive research, which Cathleen Naundorf records in enchanting handmade journals in order to develop a storyboard: archive photos of couturiers, texts written by Naundorf and others as well as sketches of planned photo compositions. In addition, Cathleen Naundorf conducts personal interviews with the designers."
A new book called Haute Couture : Polaroids of Cathleen Naundorf is published by Prestel.