Where the Sun Was Warm

Summer’s always gone before you notice it. All the things you were going to do—they stay theoretical.

Henrik Purienne didn’t let that happen. He put Shané van der Westhuizen in his Citroën one morning, drove to Cape Town, and shot a whole collection against the beach and rocks. Zulu & Zephyr, this Australian label, called it the ’Cape Town’ line. Didn’t shoot it in a studio. Didn’t polish it. Just let the sun and the water and the sand be what they are.

There’s a difference between a shoot that’s been designed and one that’s been witnessed. Most of what gets made is the first kind. The construction shows. But this one—you can see Shané in the landscape. Not positioned in it, but occupying it. Which is probably exactly what Henrik was after.

I don’t know the brand. I don’t know the prices or what they’re made of. What I know is the choice: to shoot when the light is true, in a place that doesn’t need embellishment. To let the work breathe.

By the time you read this, summer’s probably over. It goes fast.