Pre Paris

If Daft Punk and Lady Gaga were to have a love child, we imagine she would look something like this. These candy colored creatures are actually the work of artistic duo Ralph Lagoi and Kate Lace, otherwise known as Lagoi & Lace. While studying art and photography at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, they decided to combine their various strengths in photography, design, art direction and styling to celebrate the power of beauty and fashion.

Set in actual love hotel rooms in Japan, this spread is called "Love Land Invaders." It features superhero-like characters in crazy cool outfits and accessories like masks, glasses, shields, armory, jewelry, and ribbon. Each character represents a certain aspect of beauty (the beauty of dark elegance, the beauty of a gentleman, the beauty of play, the beauty of wilderness, the beauty of pink).

"The "Love Land Invaders" express an idea we call luxurious pop. In this project luxury can be found in the aesthetic quality of the design, for example by using glossy materials, sculptural shapes and vibrant colors. Luxury can also mean giving oneself the freedom to explore your desires and fantasies and creating fitting worlds. For us pop describes the idea of bringing diverse inspirational sources into a fresh mix to create emotionally and visually strong images. The idea of luxurious pop was our guiding light while creating the "Love Land Invaders".