The Storm: It’s something we’ve all seen and experienced, a storm is a part of life but it doesn’t last forever.
The Ark: It provides shelter, protection, and comfort against your darkest days.
The Rainbow: A constant reminder of God’s promise, and the fact that there are better days ahead.
Paired perfectly like the humans and animals God instructed Noah to take into the ark for protection, Visionary, and Creator Jennifer Sutton and Director Otis Knight set out to produce “La Prommesse,” a dynamic, mixed media visual presentation fused with original art, music, and fashion for the world to experience.
“I have always loved, and been inspired by that story [Noah’s Ark] because it takes you through life’s transitions…”
-Jennifer Sutton, visionary and creator of La Prommesse
Jennifer, a conceptual artist, designer and the founder of Art Meso, an international art and fashion exhibition, created and carried the vision for La Prommesse.
“I’m a visual person so I have to put a story behind anything that I do. I think it was very important to break them up into scenes like that so people could digest each piece as they were watching it.”
Otis, a veteran fashion creative and owner of Bal Mori Bal Mori, a luxury designer fragrance collection, wanted the project to inspire viewers and for Jennifer’s vision to come to life.
It is evident that the team accomplished this goal, from the outdoor forest-like scenery to the handmade garments Jennifer created for the models. Some contained earth tone colors, and she designed a unique 3D printed animal neck piece to enhance one garment, every element connected seamlessly to develop the story of La Prommesse.
Each model represented a different phase of the exhibit including: the Storm, the Ark and the Rainbow (La Prommesse). Not only did their attire go along with the theme but so did their makeup and hair.
“I had snakeskin vinyl to represent the snake… cashmere, I had wool, I used real leather. I wanted to have the texture of leather, it complimented the animal,” said Jennifer during an Instagram LIVE video about the exhibit. She loves to mix fabrics and wanted to use different types of textures with this project.
Like animal print for a skirt, cashmere and leather to represent the texture of the animal. The designer also used tulle fabric for some of the garments in an effort to present a softness to it and still make it relatively feminine, and to peak an artistic edge to the attire. One of her favorite things to include in her art and fashion exhibits are capes.
“The cape represents a piece of me, I inserted a piece of me into that story. It’s kind of like my signature thing,” Jennifer reveals.
As long-time friends and project partners, Otis and Jennifer’s minds are in sync and they challenge one another creatively.
“…Jennifer has an aesthetic that is very strong around the components of bringing unique fabrics together, she has a strong eye for color and she has a very powerful understanding of the aesthetics of fashion photography…” Otis explained.
“With me being a creative in fashion, the fabrics are a huge component of the vision for a portfolio or a fashion project. The fabrics were a must for us to really work with them together, mixing and matching the patterns and being able to utilize them in different setting platforms for the final outcome of the project,” he adds.
Jennifer was very adamant about drawing a connection between the costumes, the storyline, and the setting. She said the outdoors really served as the background for the garments, and it definitely rooted itself [in] the beauty of it all.
“I wanted everything to bounce off the outdoor scene,” she explained. A small part of the project was shot inside of a studio, but the majority of the exhibit was held in Springdale Park located in the city of Atlanta. To set the scene and the mood for the entire presentation, original music was created by DJ Jamal and Khalil Jones. The music selection tells the story of La Prommesse with no words, just powerful instrumentals that build suspense and create heart-throbbing rhythms during the storm; then transitions to the Ark, as the sky begins to open up and the sun rises, a more soothing, calming melody begins to take over providing a reassurance that everything will be okay, just like God promised.
Eventually, the music changes to refreshing sounds bringing us to the promise which is represented by a rainbow.
“I want them to feel the emotion behind the presentation of the storm and knowing that going through transitions there is always a rainbow, always a promise at the end of that story…”
It is hard to believe that this project only took three months to complete, and the entire photoshoot and film was shot in just one day!
“It was important that we had strong and passionate team members to bring this project to life. We knew we had to come together strongly to make this happen, as a director and as her right-hand man…” said Otis, who has had a love for fashion since the age of 13.
The La Prommesse project was sponsored by Fulton County Arts & Culture. And, you can shop several pieces (which are limited) from the visual presentation at www.jennifermsutton.com
Next up Jennifer is working on a project slated for October 2021, called Art Meso: Carnaval Couture. Stay tuned for more: https://www.artmeso.com/
-Jaya Franklin
