STOOPS, Ronald. Inge Grognard / Ronald Stoops.

(Belgium): Ludion, 2010.  First edition.  Quarto. 184 pages.  Antwerp’s favourite fashion photography and make-up duo, Ronald Stoops and Inge Grognard were instrumental in the international breakthrough of Belgian fashion. Collaborating with some of the country’s foremost designers and stylists, the pair made a vital contribution to the early careers of luminaries like Dries van Noten and Martin Margiela; their visceral visual language was then enthusiastically employed by second-wave stars like Raf Simons, Veronique Branquinho and Jurgi Persoons. This essential collection of thirty years of seminal European fashion imagery shows every facet of the duo’s aesthetic, from austere catwalk experimentalism to equally surprising moments of beauty and humour.  Illustrated throughout.  This a good copy only, heavily rubbed along all edges and corners, with a small split at spine base.  Possibly a limited presentation copy, as inscribed by the author’s with number stamp to front endpaper. Scarce, more so signed, but sadly not the prettiest copy.