Cesar Love Alexadre is a duo of visual artists formed by Isabelle Chaput and Nelson Tiberghien.They met at the Gobelins school of Photography in Paris and now based in New York where they work on their image works through visual performance, fashion photography and film.Under the appellation of Cesar Love Alexandre and their performative and influencive portal Young Emperors, they unified with a sovereign dream of working under the value of love in real life and professionally renouncing to their own name and gender with an identifiable twin look.

Isabelle and Nelson’s performative and influencive portal Young Emperors is part of their visual performance .

1.You two met at photography school in Paris; Was it really that you realised you dressed yourselves the same that brought you two into this romantic relationship? 

That’s not the reason why! We met in photography school and started working together as friends. From the beginning, we noticed that we would sometimes wear similar outfits by accident but it is not why we started our relationship. We fell in love later in time, because we had a strong, total connection, because we laughed, because we ate and walked together laughing, because we wanted the same thing and shared the same thoughts, also because we are different and alike at the same time. We started to wear matching outfits as a physical representation of this connection that we have.

2.So, should we all start searching for the person opposite us wearing the same trousers and perfectly styled accessories? No seriously, how important do you think having a similar sense of style is in a relationship and a connection?

Of course not, everybody is different and every relationship is different! For us, every relationship is creativity itself, you are creating something new out of a connection between two beings, and this creation can be expressed in any way, shape, or form. It might sound cheesy but that’s why love is so fascinating, why art is so driven by love, why romance is the fuel of so many stories and movies, and why we do what we do. Our relationship is the expression of our two beings, and we just decided that we would love to adorn it in a physical way, showcasing our team/twin spirit and using our passion for fashion to do so. In summary we think it really depends on who you are and what is important to you, of course the start of a connection can start through shared interests and similarities, and if style is important to you then someone having the same sense of style as you do might be a starting point!

3.Do you find now; that you both delve toward the same designers and trends? And what are the trends that have inspired you the most in both ‘Young Emperors’ and your fashion photography and direction in ‘Cesar Love Alexandre’?

Yes and no, we don’t necessarily have the exact same sense of style and inspirations but we do appreciate the same designers and share the same vision of beauty, while maintaining part of our respective individualities. Matching outfits is something that we love to do organically, we have so much fun pairing our different styles and ideas into a living harmony of colors, patterns or shapes, integrating subjects or themes into it. This process is a creation and we like to see it the same way that we create a fashion story, a performance, or a film, a painting. Of course we try to stay in touch with the trends, but they are not our main focus (even though there is no way we are not subconsciously driven by the trends, we work in fashion!), what really inspires us is everything, from movies, to people we see in our everyday life, our friends, internet, archives, paintings, the supermarket, other cultures, history and the list goes on. One trend that we can say we love the most for sure would be the genderless movement in fashion and the fact that the constricted idea of gender in clothing is changing.

4.Talking of ‘Young emperors’ and ‘Cesar Love Alexandre’; what inspired these names?

The name Cesar Love Alexandre is a symbol, with multiple ideas behind it, it started with the thought that what if Julius Cesar and Alexander The Great had fallen in love, they would have succeeded in conquering the world. We thought that this was a representation of our mottos, love and teamwork, with a hint of irony. We loved the fact that this name was not our own names, as renouncing our own names and egos was important to us for the start of this duo and is a big part of our mentality. Finally, we loved that this name was not a name but a brand, a label, as we didn’t want to be constricted by rules of what we should be, as we are multidisciplinary and we want to continue to explore new ideas and concepts. 

Young Emperors came in later, when we decided to officially showcase our matching outfits online and we created the matching couple instagram, it was an extension of our main appellation as we wanted to stay connected to our universe, but we wanted it to represent the fact that it was a sketch book, a branch.

5.You two have broken the boundaries in fashion photography; using the concept of creating a story and a message with each image! What is the most important message you hope your audience gains from these moving stories? And Where does the inspiration come from for each story normally?

We don’t know if we can acknowledge that we broke the boundaries in fashion photography it’s a big responsibility haha, but thank you!

Its difficult to think about only one message we are trying to convey through our images and stories, as we try to talk about a lot of different subjects, but I think one of the most recurrent things that comes into our work is the idea of the beauty in everything, and that our most powerful tool is irony in life. We like to gaze at something that can seem so obvious because it’s been there all along and has become blended and picture it in our own way, giving it a new momentum. 

We draw inspiration from absolutely everything, as we do with Young Emperors, from our everyday life and our general curiosity about everything, from arts and cultures, and all that life has to offer!

6. Do you believe this method of breaking the rules and the banal images that fashion photography entailed (which let’s be honest we see so many try and attempt to do what you two have created) will be a main driving force in the fashion photography world now? 

We do see a general shift in the way fashion is represented visually, and we think that people are starting to accept fashion photography and video more an art form as well, not just a commercial tool, which is incredible and exciting.

On a deeper level we see a major positive shift in the fashion sphere, from the increasing inclusivity and awareness, to the body positivity movement and most of all to the fact that beauty is not a linear concept, and and we are just incredibly happy to be able to witness this change, and in our small scale be a part of it. 

7.What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone looking to be in this industry? 

This industry can be tough, but keep your head up, and keep creating. Focus on your voice and what you try to say, look at the art that was done by our elders to open your eyes to different ways of seeing the world. And most of all, be nice, be humble and stay curious!

8.You two have worked on some incredible projects; now I know this is hard but do you have a favourite or one that stands out to you both?

I don’t think we have a favourite past project as we cherish all of them, for the people we had the chance to work with, the story behind or the project itself but as any artist we are always more prone to think about our very last project!

9.Working together and being together 24/7; how does this affect your relationship? Does it only make the bond stronger? Or at times and be honest here drive you a little crazy?

Of course we get mad from time to time, we are a couple and we are french! Haha, but more seriously, for us it couldn’t have been any other way. Being together and working together was not even a question, it is just natural and evident! Every relationship is different and ours happens to work like this! 

10.You two are so in love its inspiring! What are some other ways in everyday New York City life you two love birds find ways to keep this love and connection so deep?! 

New York is a fast city, and everything revolves around work, but we definitely take the time for our little walks and habits. We have an obsession with food and New York is definitely the most exciting city for that. We go to Elizabeth Garden, to the movies, coffees, say hi to the deli cat, etc. We also play Pokémon a lot, level 30, pretty good Pokemon masters at this point!

CESAR LOVE ALEXANDRE'S WEBSITE

EDITED BY SHO ISHIKURA

INTERVIEWED BY ANNA SPROUL