Behind the scenes of David LaChapelle’s ‘Pop Touch’ shoot for Tod’s

Italian luxury goods house Tod's has collaborated with photographer David LaChapelle on a project to celebrate the launch of its new A/W 2013 Sella bag. Watch the shoot unfold in this behind-the-scenes video

Having worked for years in commercial photography, capturing the world’s biggest stars and shooting for the likes of Vogue, Rolling Stone and i-D, David LaChapelle famously ’retired’ from fashion in 2006 to concentrate on fine-art photography. So it is rather a coup that Italian luxury goods brand Tod’s has enlisted him to commemorate the launch of its new Sella bag.

The photographic project, shot in LaChapelle’s signature semi-surrealist style, is constructed around a series of theatrical sets that see a heady coming together of miniature horses (because ’girls love horses’, explains LaChapelle), smoke machines and a model languidly posing with variations on the Sella. 

The equine dreamscapes in LaChapelle’s ’Pop Touch’ project are a nod to the Sella’s features - contours shaped to mimic that of a horse saddle, and metal hardware that references the fittings and joints of the bridle.

LaChapelle’s prominent use of horse imagery was also inspired by the world of traditional saddlery and the values of craftsmanship and heritage that make up Tod’s DNA. Reflecting on the ’whole connection with young girls and horses’, he goes on to note that ’a lot of my friends, sisters, cousins, when I was growing up, would have these horse dreams’.

Watch the video to see the project unfold.