“In this summer issue I wanted to put together a gallery of the exceptionally talented people I’ve known and loved for years, along with artists I’ve recently discovered and find inspiring. These are some of the people — stars and non-stars, from models to architects and artists to thinkers — who help me to understand this changing world and to navigate my way through it.
Yes, we know that art can’t change the world. But these artists share a certain optimism or idealism, simply because they all, like me, believe that art is not décor to embellish a richer lifestyle, nor is it an escape into a dream world.
Art can inspire the impulse to move, to change, and to transform the world inch by inch, second by second, and step by step. Maybe these artists don’t even want to make the world better. But they show us life through a clearer lens. Because we believe that style is the answer to everything.
The first Purple Index lists 76 of the most creative people in art and fashion — in alphabetical order to avoid any kind of hierarchy. Each was photographed or portrayed through their work. Of course, this number is arbitrary. We could have gone on and shown more. We simply didn’t have enough time or enough pages. But all these artists are highly innovative and influential, not only in what they do, but also in how they do it: methodically, ironically, obsessively, or intuitively, and always with style.
We interviewed them to understand how they innovate, express themselves, and move forward in a period when creativity is everywhere and relevance is rare.” — OLIVIER ZAHM
Purple Index 76 also includes texts by JEAN -LUC NANCY, ÉRIC TRONCY, SLAVOJ ZIZEK, interviews with artists XAVIER VEILHAN, FRANCISCO VEZZOLI, URS FISCHER, fashion shoots by JUERGEN TELLER, CHIKASHI SUZUKI, GRAIG MCDEAN, BRIANNA CAPOZZI, BENEDICT BRINK and many others.<!-- Frequency: 2 issues/year
