Gianpaolo Barbieri is one of the most potent fashion image makers working in Italy today. Born in Milan in 1938, he has chronicled the changing face of Italian fashion over five decades, from the early years of Italy’s ready-to-wear explosion, to the height of the ‘Made in Italy’ phenomenon.

His first feature was printed in 1963, in the Condé Nast magazine Novità, which would later become Vogue Italia, an assignment that began a long lasting collaboration with that magazine. He was awarded the Premio Biancamano in 1968, as the year’s best Italian photographer. In 1978, Stern magazine listed him as one of the best fashion photographers of the age. Barbieri has worked on numerous high-profile advertising campaigns for fashion houses including Chanel, Dolce&Gabbana, Valentino and Versace.

This image, taken for an advertising campaign for the late Gianfranco Ferré (1944-2007), exemplifies Barbieri’s skill at transforming his subjects into ideal images. The photograph celebrates and monumentalizes a garment type that was the cornerstone of many of Ferré’s collections: the stylish white shirt.

Barbieri travelled widely; throughout the 1970s he shot features in Sudan (1974), Venezuela, the Seychelles (1975), Jamaica (1977) and India (1979). He also experimented with image making that blended an ethnographic approach with the glamour of high fashion, some of which was published in the books Silent Portraits (1984), and Madgascar (1994).

Barbieri’s work has featured in museum exhibitions around the world, including Shots of Style (V&A, 1985), Carte blanche: (Fondation Cartier, Paris, 1987) and Appearances: Fashion Photography since 1945 (V&A, 1991).