Following the successful debut of its new-look grid girls at Misano, BMW Motorrad invited Munich-based designer Kinga Horvath to display some unique items from her latest collection for a photo-shoot at Silverstone this month. Once again, the aim was to create an elegant, sophisticated, dressed-up alternative to the conventional grid-girl look at the Superbike World Championship's latest round.
Photographer Markus Hofmann returned
to the paddock after a positive reaction to his first shoot. "We received
a lot of coverage online and in magazines from Misano, as well as in the World
Superbike event program at Silverstone," he said. "And I'm expecting
even greater coverage off the back of the shots this weekend."
Although the location was similar to Misano, Markus had two new models to work with and fewer distractions at Silverstone: "There were more people in the paddock area in Misano, which made working quite difficult. But at Silverstone, it was more laid-back, with fewer people, so we could easily get the shots we wanted."
The shoot was the first opportunity for 29-year-old Kinga, originally from Slovakia, to work with BMW Motorrad. Last year, however, the design graduate of Munich's Deutsche Meisterschule für Mode, exhibited her work at a fashion show held at the BMW Museum.
Kinga created three different looks by hand specifically for the Silverstone shoot, using a variety of different materials. "The outfits are quite similar in terms of the overall image of the project, but the styles vary from classic to elegant and rock chick," she explained.
"I selected these clothes with the intention of working with BMW in the future, to develop clothes for the models to wear at the racetrack. My aim is to accurately represent BMW Motorrad with my clothes and for people to associate the garments with the BMW brand."
Latvian-born model Sanita Alexsejevc was impressed with Kinga's creations: "The outfits are amazing – I think they are interesting and beautiful, and I feel this gives a much better perception of BMW Motorrad as a premium brand," said the 25-year-old who currently lives in London.
The reaction from spectators was also encouraging, she added: "Everywhere
we went, we attracted the attention of lots of people, who stood and watched
the shoot and even took their own photos."
Equally impressed by the reaction of the fans at Silverstone, Dutch model Renee
Bounin, 27, believed Kinga and BMW Motorrad had achieved their aim: "The
main thing is that people are talking about what we are wearing, which is ultimately
what we want. We have had so many positive comments on how good the outfits look,
and how refreshing it is for a manufacturer to do something different."
After seeing some of the images during the shoot, Renee was also impressed by
the finished result. "It is amazing to see what Markus can do in a tricky
environment," she added. But working behind the scenes as the teams build
up for the racing weekend, was one of the highlights for Hofmann.
"The atmosphere in the paddock is amazing and it's great to be part of the
action," he said. "I enjoy working in new environments because you
always learn different ways of doing things."
The greatest challenge was striking the perfect balance between sexy and sophisticated,
he continued: "We want the shots to come across as classy and elegant, but
we don't want to lose too much sex appeal. It's tricky, but I think we have done
a good job so far."
The fast-paced fashion shoots move on to the next round at the Nürburgring in
September, where the BMW Motorrad grid girls will be modeling outfits designed
for BMW Motorrad by Kinga Horvath. It will be another opportunity for the brand
to create a talking point in the paddock and raise the stakes once more in race
circuit couture.
For more information about designer Kinga Horvath, please visit www.kingahorvath.de
and to see a "making of" video from this event, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFyfvE18xPI