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[H1] A Givenchy 'Homage' by Matthew Williams Unravels a Complex History With Late Designer Ben Cho

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A Givenchy 'Homage' by Matthew Williams Unravels a Complex History With Late Designer Ben Cho

FASHIONDiet PradaAugust 25, 2021Benjamin Cho, Ben Cho, Matthew Williams, Givenchy

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FASHIONDiet PradaFebruary 3, 2021emanuele d'angelo, photography, #MeToo, #TimesUp, believe women

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[H1] A Givenchy 'Homage' by Matthew Williams Unravels a Complex History With Late Designer Ben Cho

[IMG: Those closest to Cho, a downtown darling of the early aughts, say there’s more than meets the eye after alleging that Williams copied their friend, who passed away in 2017. Illustration by Allen Karachun]

Those closest to Cho, a downtown darling of the early aughts, say there’s more than meets the eye after alleging that Williams copied their friend, who passed away in 2017. Illustration by Allen Karachun

Recently, Instagram lit up with a flurry of comments on a post comparing a Givenchy look by Matthew Williams to the work of Benjamin Cho, the late Korean American fashion designer and downtown darling of the early aughts who passed away in 2017. Athena Currey, a former Ford model and best friend of Cho’s, led the charge, putting Williams on blast and demanding he give credit.The Givenchy look highlighted in Currey’s post went largely unnoticed when it first walked down the Fall 2021 runway. Then, Beyoncé donned it for a widely-circulated Harper’s Bazaar September feature. For those who were close to Cho, the sinewy braided silk cords immediately recalled their friend’s work. Writer Lesley Arfin, singer Cat Power, and filmmaker William Strobeck were just some of the many who took to the comments to express their anger. “You were then, as you are now, @matthewmwilliams, a toxic sociopath without morals and scruples,” one comment read from a private user.Cho, who has become something of a mythical figure in New York City’s downtown history, was at the nexus of its buzzing social scene where actors, musicians, artists, and skateboarders collided at hotspots like Sway and Don Hill’s. He would spend his nights DJing and partying with the likes of Chloë Sevigny, Ryan McGinley, and Dash Snow, while devoting his days to handcrafting one-of-a-kind couture to critical acclaim. Cho’s designs, which often featured laborious manipulations of fabric and unexpected materials, leaned towards the kitschy and avant-garde. At times, they were devastatingly chic. On top of numerous Vogue accolades, New York Magazine also named him as one of 12 up-and-comers who would “give the big-league labels a run for their money.”Luxury brands knocking off smaller designers has been par for the course in the digital age, where the Instagram feeds of young designers can easily fuel those lacking on the inspiration front. But some of the Benjamin Cho looks that appear to have inspired Williams predate the digital boom. Film images shot in 2000 and provided by Cho’s sister, Dr. Catherine Cho, bear even more similarities, like a braided scarlet top with trailing fringes styled over black trousers that looks uncannily similar to a look worn by Bella Hadid from the same Fall 2021 runway.

[IMG: Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.]

Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.

[IMG: Details of the Benjamin Cho look from a fitting in September, 2000. Images via Cathy Cho]

Details of the Benjamin Cho look from a fitting in September, 2000. Images via Cathy Cho

[IMG: Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.]

Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.

[IMG: Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.]

Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.

[IMG: Models on the runway at Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.]

Models on the runway at Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.

[IMG: Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.]

[IMG: Details of the Benjamin Cho look from a fitting in September, 2000. Images via Cathy Cho]

[IMG: Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.]

[IMG: Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 vs. Givenchy Fall 2021 by Matthew Williams. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.]

[IMG: Models on the runway at Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001. Images via Cathy Cho and Vogue Runway c/o Givenchy.]

“It's a blatant ripoff,” said Meryl Smith, a visual artist and friend of Cho’s who collaborated with him on pieces like the faux polar bear skin rug coat that Lady Gaga wore in the “Bad Romance” music video in 2008. “It was one of Ben's trademark techniques. That's why I'm so shocked that Matt would think that nobody would know about Ben's collections.”Cho, who used to do hair and makeup as a side gig while studying at Parsons School of Design, began incorporating actual hair in his early experiments with fashion in the late 1990s. Some of his first collections featured dresses that were spliced asymmetrically with braided hair that rejoined the pieces like faggoting. Others used hair to embroider delicate floral and bird motifs.Marc Hundley, an artist and furniture maker, was a model when he met Cho on a test shoot in 1994. Knowing how to sew from childhood, the two quickly became close and Hundley began helping create pieces for Cho’s first fashion show in 1998. He believes his use of the braided silk fringe was a natural evolution. “He took the hair thing and he went with it because he used all the materials within his reach,” he said. “Since he had done hair before he probably had some extensions and I think it just went from there.”

[IMG: Jennifer Lopez in a Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 top in the music video “Play,” 2001. Screenshots via YouTube.]

Jennifer Lopez in a Benjamin Cho Spring/Summer 2001 top in the music video “Play,” 2001. Screenshots via YouTube.

By Cho’s Spring 2001 show, the braided looks had evolved into whole dresses and tops made of silk cording and fringe. Jennifer Lopez ended up wearing a piece in her music video for “Play” the same year, garnering the designer an enviable amount of press for the season. The following year, Brandy wore a red dress made of laced ribbons in the video for her song “What About Us?.” With front row fixtures like the Olsen twins, Natasha Lyonne, and Milla Jovovich, Cho had become every bit of the celebrity darling needed to become one of fashion’s buzziest talents.
As loved ones of Cho continued sharing Currey’s Instagram post, chiming in with comments that ranged in tone from sentimental to savage, it quickly emerged that there was more to the story than your typical copycat tale. In a subsequent post, Currey, who modeled in all but one of Cho’s fashion shows, made a pointed effort to draw attention to the relationship between her friend and Williams. “I am including pictures of them because it is important you know they knew each other,” the caption read. “There is no faceless intern pulling images as someone assumed.”Currey elaborated over a phone interview. “I know that fashion gets recycled,” she said. “But I don't know how common it is that someone that close to you takes your ideas, puts their name on it, and then puts a fashion label on it, you know?”

[IMG: Matthew Williams and Benjamin Cho attend The Whitney Biennial After Party at The Armory on March 4, 2008 in New York City. Photo by PATRICK MCMULLAN/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images]

Matthew Williams and Benjamin Cho attend The Whitney Biennial After Party at The Armory on March 4, 2008 in New York City. Photo by PATRICK MCMULLAN/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

For a time, many of Cho’s friends remembered him and Williams being inseparable. “It was kind of a big deal because he didn't really have a lot of close relationships that I knew of,” Currey said of Cho, who began spending much of his time with Williams. “He even brought him to a dinner with Ben's mom who was visiting from Korea,” she continued. “As his best friend, that was the only time I had ever met her as well, so I knew that Matt was important to him.”According to friends, Cho was intensely private about his personal life and many were surprised when Williams entered the picture. “It was a huge deal,” said Tony Cox, a former pro skateboarder turned artist and gallery owner. “Everyone's like, ‘I’m Ben’s best friend,’ but in reality, Ben didn't just let anyone in his life like that.”Not long after Currey’s second post, Williams took to Instagram stories in an attempt to clarify matters. “Thx to Ben Cho who I began assisting in my early career, he taught me so much about fashion and art,” read his caption alongside an image of Beyoncé in the Givenchy dress. “This braided technique I learned from Ben and I used it in this dress as my homage to Ben. Miss you.”Williams later revised the caption of a June 28 post of the dress to attribute credit and turned off the comments. “When I realized the hommage was unintentionally unclear, I immediately addressed it on social media to make sure the legacy of Ben was respected, as it was always and remains my intention,” he said in a statement via e-mail. He also says he was a paid assistant and collaborated with Cho on projects for Lady Gaga.But friends and collaborators of Cho’s were quick to dismiss Williams’ claims. “Ben didn’t really have assistants,” Smith said. “His friends were his ‘assistants’ and we all worked on his shows together.” She described a bustling, collaborative environment where they all volunteered their time and pulled all-nighters because it was as exciting to help bring Cho’s vision to life as it was to be around him. Still, she never saw Williams around.Smith also took issue with Williams calling his dress an homage. “To put something so fleetingly in an Instagram story that's up for 24 hours is not a proper way to pay homage to somebody you cared about,” she added.Hundley, who continued to work on Cho’s shows until his last one in 2008, couldn’t recall seeing Williams around either. “He could’ve passed through to hangout and maybe Ben would tell him to do something, but I don’t remember him being there,” he surmised. “Like, our friend Dash would be around for the making of the clothes, but he didn't make the clothes. He was just there, you know?”Dr. Cho, a neurologist in Manhattan, also said that she didn’t believe Williams had ever assisted her brother. “I’ve never seen him backstage,” she said. “When Ben had a fashion show, there were a ton of people there and I've never, ever seen Matt there.” Dr. Cho herself was often around, showing support by helping to cater his shows, running last minute errands, or letting his team use her apartment as a studio and show venue.

[IMG: A sketch of Lady Gaga’s costume design by Benjamin Cho (left) and Gaga wearing Benjamin Cho on American Idol, 2009 (right). The sketch reads “American Idol dress!! Designed by my friend Benjamin Cho.” Image via Book of Gaga, 2009.]

A sketch of Lady Gaga’s costume design by Benjamin Cho (left) and Gaga wearing Benjamin Cho on American Idol, 2009 (right). The sketch reads “American Idol dress!! Designed by my friend Benjamin Cho.” Image via Book of Gaga, 2009.

“In a sense, Matt did learn a lot from being around Ben,” she said of their relationship. “He was extremely generous and loved to share ideas.” She spoke of her brother’s friendship with Lady Gaga and a time the budding superstar sought advice from him early on in her career.“There was a point where Gaga was trying to become more serious, like what she's doing now with Tony Bennett,” Dr. Cho said. “But she was really young and my brother advised her against it and encouraged her to go wilder.” She says he then connected Gaga with stylist Nicola Formichetti, who would become a prominent member of Lady Gaga’s creative team, Haus of Gaga. Around that time, Williams was installed as its first creative director and for a period, was romantically linked to the pop star.Dr. Cho also spoke of a time Williams took a sketchbook from her brother. “It was ideas and set designs for a Gaga show that he later saw a lesser version of on TV,” she said while recalling a clear piano and a celestial set. “He was really upset and confronted Matt, who was like ‘I’m sorry, I'm just under a lot of pressure,’ and returned the book to him.” Cox also heard about the incident directly from Cho. “I think he was hurt and traumatized that someone would have the audacity to take his personal art and produce it for someone on that level,” he said.
Winnie Wong, an influential political activist and senior advisor to Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, was a friend of Cho’s for over a decade. She remembered when Williams came into their orbit. “Matt’s ascent in the social scene of New York city was swift,” Wong said. “He was this person who had come from, like Illinois, and moved to the city and all of a sudden he was in every room as a VIP with other VIPs.” “Matt wasn't the most outgoing guy,” Smith said of Williams. “He was just kind of quietly by Ben's side, sitting there nicely with a smile on his face and not engaging much.” Williams’ presence, or lack thereof, was the reason why many friends of Cho’s did not immediately realize that the Matthew Williams of Givenchy was the same one as the subject of Currey’s Instagram post. “I didn't even know he was a designer. I just thought he was an ex-soccer player who went out with Lady Gaga,” Hundley said. “It was a surprise to me recently when I found out he was at Givenchy. I was like ‘what?’,” he added with a chuckle.Many friends of Cho’s waxed poetic about the times they spent together out on the party scene. “When he walked into a room, he stole the show and he didn't do it on purpose,” Wong said about Cho. “People were delighted and enthralled to be near him. They adored him. I adored him. And he adored me back.”But many of Cho’s friends kept Williams at an arm's length. “Ben truly liked this human being, but there were some ulterior motives on Matt’s side and we all saw it,” Cox said, “It was just kind of transparent.” He held back before saying too much.“Matt added this really unpleasant dimension to Ben’s force field and it was noticed by his closest friends,” Wong said. “I think that someone like him just saw how bright of a light Ben was and flocked to that.”Cho’s friends remarked that he became distant soon after Williams entered the picture, yet no one seems quite sure how things fell apart between the two around 2009

[H1] Celebrity Photographer LIVINCOOL aka Emanuele D’Angelo is Accused of Sexual Exploitation

[IMG: Emanuele D’Angelo and some of the famous faces he’s photographed. Photos via Pinterest]

Emanuele D’Angelo and some of the famous faces he’s photographed. Photos via Pinterest

The fashion industry is one that canonizes men, fluffing egos and bestowing incredible amounts of influence upon those it deems worthy. At best, it births legends and legacies of beautiful art. At worst, it creates monsters who abuse their power and exploit those they see as vulnerable.It is also an industry that has perfected identifying people’s insecurities and selling “aspiration” in its place. Coupled with a foundation built on over-sexualizing bodies, especially those of women, it’s unsurprising that fashion has become rife with harrowing stories involving its upper echelons.With numerous allegations against fashion photographers Terry Richardson, Mario Testino, Bruce Weber, and most recently designer Alexander Wang, sexual assault has more or less become one of the fashion industry’s dirty open secrets. How does one even begin to tackle the issue when predators seem to run rampant?For Instagram account Shit Model Management, it’s all in a day’s work. “I have time today. Who needs exposing??,” read a frame from their Instagram stories in December of 2020. In the following story, a model alleged a photographer rubbed his genitals on her and then coerced her to have sex with him during Paris fashion week. Several other stories followed.That photographer was Emanuele D’Angelo, known professionally as “Livincool”, and you’ve likely seen his photos on the feeds of the fashion industry’s brightest stars. Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Winnie Harlow, and Emily Ratajkowski are just some of the famous faces the Rome-born photographer has captured, the latter whom he calls his friend and muse, according to an interview with Highsnobiety. Often, he can be seen accompanying them during fashion weeks, vacations, and international film festivals.

[IMG: Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid, Winnier Harlow, and Kendall Jenner as photographed by Emanuele D’Angelo.]

Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid, Winnier Harlow, and Kendall Jenner as photographed by Emanuele D’Angelo.

Since D’Angelo’s early days of photographing the London party scene in 2009, Livincool has evolved into a lifestyle brand often seen on influential friends like Hailey Beiber and Ratajkowski, who would model the line of jersey basics. With immense celebrity support and an endless feed of aspirational imagery, retailers like Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Selfridges in London have also taken note, stocking popular items like his cropped hoodies, which retail starting around $175.But beneath the cool veneer of D’Angelo’s grainy, sun-drenched photos are the untold stories of numerous models who identify themselves as survivors of sexual assault. For this story, six women have agreed to share their experiences with the photographer. Their allegations include being coerced under false pretenses to shoot nude, being groped and coerced to have sex, having D’Angelo’s genitals rubbed on them, and being forced to rub his genitals. These are their stories.Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.*Some names have been changed to protect their privacy.
[H3] Ellie

[IMG: Ellie Fox. Photos via Instagram.com/eelliefox]

Ellie Fox. Photos via Instagram.com/eelliefox

Ellie Fox was 19 when Emanuele D’Angelo reached out to her via social media in 2014. Having recently signed with an agency, she forwarded the request to her agent, who organized the shoot for July 3rd. “I was told it was a lingerie shoot for Agent Provocateur, not a test shoot, a nude shoot, or a shoot for Emanuele to take photos for his own portfolio," she said. Having expectations of a professional shoot, Fox, who is now 26, was caught off guard when she arrived at the North London studio. “I arrived expecting there to be at least a make up artist and stylist there, but it was just him,” Fox said, adding that there wasn’t a private area to change. “Immediately I was a bit taken aback to be alone with this man. I’d only ever shot on my own with women,” she continued.One of the looks D’Angelo gave her was a pair of panties with no top. “I looked at him confused. He just shrugged and gave me some nipple pasties. I was feeling very vulnerable already at this point,” she said. Fox described one shot where he directed her to cover her chest with a magazine. “No the pasties aren’t working, will you take them off?,” she recalled him asking as his tone became more demanding. Having never posed nude prior, she removed them carefully, trying not to expose herself from under the magazine. As Fox changed into another look, D’Angelo said he “might as well” shoot her topless. “I thought this was a shoot for Agent Provocateur’s social channels, it didn’t make sense to me why nipples or nudity would need to be shown, but I complied, covering myself with my arms,” she said. It wasn’t long before he asked Fox to remove her underwear as well, but this time, she didn’t comply. D’Angelo later photoshopped these images to look like she was completely nude. “When I saw the photo and how badly photoshopped it was, I was mortified. I felt like I’d been violated and taken advantage of — along with being coerced to go topless.”

[IMG: Images of Fox, shot and photoshopped by D’Angelo to remove her underwear. Screenshots via Ellie Fox]

Images of Fox, shot and photoshopped by D’Angelo to remove her underwear. Screenshots via Ellie Fox

After lunch, she felt like they were finally shooting what they had agreed upon when she was given a full lingerie set complete with a robe. “He takes a few photos, but then suddenly starts to grope my bum as he’s shooting from behind, telling me how ‘sexy and cute’ I am,” Fox recalled. “I twisted away but he was being adamant at this point and started touching my vagina.” Things started getting hazy from this point, she said.“He grabs my hips and pulls me over to a sofa… I think I remember him asking me to gyrate my hips on him. Next thing I know, his trousers are around his ankles and he’s pulling his penis out of his underwear,” Fox said. “He pulled me down hard onto his lap, trying to manipulate my hips, and I just froze but made sure I kept my thighs tight together so that he couldn’t penetrate or touch me with his penis.”“I don’t know how long I stayed there, but I remember getting up and he made a joke about ‘oh it’s too soon I guess’,” Fox said, before getting dressed in a state of embarrassment. Some time after the shoot, D’Angelo asked her to review the images with him over dinner. “He just kept staring at me and acting really shifty,” she said of their uncomfortable meeting.He never showed her the images at dinner, instead calling her immature after she told him she wouldn’t sleep with him. “That was when he got up and left,” she continued. “I now realize that this ‘date’ was just a way for him to rid himself of the guilt or try to flatter me so that I wouldn’t report what had happened.“
[H3] Madelyn
Madelyn* was 22 when Emanuele D’Angelo asked her to shoot some lingerie for Agent Provocateur in 2014. She said the photographer told her he would send the photos to the brand, after claiming they had tasked him with scouting models for a campaign. Having known the photographer a little while, she says she felt comfortable at the start of their shoot. “He suggested we did some topless shots, which was fine. I’d done lingerie and topless before and I trusted him,” she said.Through coercion and persuasion, the shoot eventually became fully nude, Madelyn recalled. “He'd say things like ‘this is what Agent Provocateur wants to see… they need to see your sexy side’,” she said. “It started with shots of me on a bed, and then the floor, and eventually I found myself stood up with my legs spread wide.” She remembers D’Angelo sweating profusely at one point. “I then clocked the raging boner bursting out of his jeans,” she said. “There was a big wet patch. He said it was my fault because I was ‘so fucking sexy’. He then took my foot and made me rub his dick with it. I was terrified at this point.”
[H2] “When I woke up in the morning he was grinding against me and suggested that we have sex. I kept saying no and that I had to go.”
With her clothes in the other room, Madelyn described feeling trapped as D’Angelo shot while blocking the door. “The photos were becoming more and more pornographic,” she said, adding that she felt fearful something worse would happen if she didn’t comply. “At one point he laid on the floor and had me stand over his camera so he could shoot me between the legs, asking me to touch myself.” She doesn’t remember much between that point and leaving the shoot, but she recalled walking down the street in a state of disorientation, confused and ashamed about what had just happened.Having suppressed the experience, Madelyn spoke of a subsequent incident where she agreed to hang out with D’Angelo as friends. After going to a party together, they ended up at his hotel room, where she pretended to fall asleep after he began pressuring her to sleep with him. “When I woke up in the morning he was grinding against me and suggested that we have sex. I kept saying no and that I had to go,” she continued. “I remember him standing at the end of the bed naked, telling me that I too can get naked as he'd already seen me in the nude.” Exhausted by repeatedly turning down his advances, she eventually succumbed. “It was aggressive and I dissociated throughout.”
[H3] Sofia
Sofia* had met Emanuele D’Angelo in 2013 through a model friend from her agency and never sensed anything off as they had previously partied together in group settings. The following year, the photographer asked her to shoot an editorial for Agent Provocateur, which would take place in a room at the Mondrian hotel in London. “At the time I was pretty happy with this as he was shooting Emily Ratajkowski and I thought it would be a good step,” she said.The day before their shoot, D’Angelo informed Sofia that the hotel had cancelled his booking and to come to his friend’s flat instead. Apprehensive, but not wanting to turn down an opportunity that could advance her career, she agreed. “I show up, there is no hair and makeup and he has one set of Agent Provocateur lingerie which he clearly bought for the shoot,” she said. “There was a friend at the flat and he asked her to leave, however she stayed.” Only a few shots in, D’Angelo abruptly ended the shoot, suggesting they try again another time.
[H2] “I always thought in situations I would be a fighter but at that moment it was like my mind went numb.”
Having hung out together a few times with the understanding that they were friends, Sofia agreed when D’Angelo asked her to meet again in 2015. She declined the wine he offered her immediately upon arrival, eventually gave in and drank one glass after being pressured. “Then he was like 'lets just do a quick shoot, it'll be so nice, the light is so good’,” she said. After a couple of headshots, she noted that his demeanor completely changed and he began pressuring her to take her top off, despite opposing numerous times. “He forced me to go topless and he rubbed my nipples so my ‘boobs look nice’.” That’s when Sofia froze. “I always thought in situations I would be a fighter but at that moment it was like my mind went numb,” she said. “And then I was thinking maybe this is all my fault… I didn't go over there thinking this was a hookup, or even a photoshoot. I went over there because I thought we were friends just catching up.”When Sofia’s mother called to ask when she would be catching the train home, she thought she had caught a break until D’Angelo intercepted the call with force. “He pulled me over while I was talking to her and was rubbing his crotch on me,” she said. “As soon as I got off the phone he was like ‘look how hard you got me baby’ while making these horrible panting moans and trying to get me to touch his dick.” She grabbed her things, told the photographer to “fuck off”, and ran.“I always think if I didn't get a phone call what would have happened? Would I have had the courage to leave? Would I have been hurt? Or forced into something else?,” Sofia wondered. “Since that incident I’ve spoken to three other girls all based in London who have had similar experiences and none of us ever saw the photos he took,” she said. “I know he has a secret stash of wank bank pictures of girls he has victimized.”
[H3] Emily

[IMG: Emily Kretzer. Photos via Instagram.com/emkretz]

Emily Kretzer. Photos via Instagram.com/emkretz

No longer in the modeling scene, 29-year-old Emily Kretzer’s experience with Emanuele D’Angelo was unique in that the photographer never actually touched her. “I feel like I’m one of the luckier ones in that sense, but my experience with him haunted me and made me absolutely hate myself for years afterwards,” she said.Kretzer described being subjected to a “humiliating, violating” ruse by D’Angelo in 2015 when she was 23. After being dropped from her agency, she was looking to rebuild her book and messaged the Livincool Instagram account about shooting together. Having admired his work, she was eager and excited to shoot when D’Angelo replied. They mutually agreed to shoot lingerie, which Kretzer was looking to complement her more commercial modeling work with.For the shoot which would take place a few days later at John Lautner’s Sheats-Goldstein Residence in Los Angeles, Kretzer spent her own money for the lingerie and to get her makeup done professionally the day of. “I didn't have a lot of Instagram followers, I didn't have an agency at the time, and I wasn't an in-demand model, so I took the shoot incredibly seriously,” she said.“When I arrived at James Goldstein's house on the day of the shoot, I was greeted by a man in a fedora who introduced himself to me as Emanuele,” Kretzer said, adding that his Instagram never seemed to feature any photos of himself. After some small talk and changing into a semi-sheer lingerie set, he directed her in various poses. “I felt slightly uncomfortable during the entirety of the shoot, but I figured it was just my nerves.” She powered through, with the hopes of impressing a photographer she so admired.

[IMG: An image of Kretzer, shot by D’Angelo’s friend who posed as him in 2015. Photo via Emily Kretzer]

An image of Kretzer, shot by D’Angelo’s friend who posed as him in 2015. Photo via Emily Kretzer

After a couple hours, they stepped out to the property’s basketball court where another man greeted Kretzer and asked to take some photos of her shooting hoops in lingerie. “After he took his turn at a couple sh