Erwan Frotin : The Flora Olbiensis series

On February 15th of this year, when word surfaced publicly that the IMG conglomerate had purchased Art and Commerce, a massive cloud of speculation went up in the NY fashionsphere. As A&C served as the hub for some of the most creative and powerful creative directors, photographers, stylists, hair and make-up people in the business, the aesthetic value of the buy was beyond question. The bigger question was,"Where's the corporate growth plan in that business? Is the future Craig McDean for Mercedes Benz? Are we talking about platforming the Annie Liebovitz name to the Chinese market?" It was actually Chris Gay, formerly of Women Management , who put it in business perspective when he theorized that the real coup was A&C's massive back archive of blue chip photographic images that were sitting there like an untapped belt of gold. I didn't get it then, but when I received an email informing me that the Art and Commerce Image archive was offering prints for sale, the possibilities suddenly became evident. Who wouldn't give a right arm for a Guy Bourdin print? In any case you can start with something from a series of 16 prints by Erwan Frotin . Those go for a very reasonable $250 per. In the meantime, send TI all your musings about this future direction of Art and Commerce.