Trending Photo News No. 28: Olivier Zahm, editor-in-chief of Purple Fashion, who published a huge Tokyo special issue, praises Japan's "profound individualism"

"For me, Japan is not just a place, it's a kind of spiritual space. It's like a mirror that reflects my inner self. I often hear people say that it's difficult because there are too many tourists, and it's the same in Paris. But for me, Japan is not a place for tourism, it's a more inward journey," says Olivier Zahm.

Zahm, founder and editor-in-chief of Purple Fashion (hereafter referred to as Purple), an independent French fashion magazine launched in 1992, spoke in the lounge of the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel in Shibuya. Purple's latest issue, the Spring/Summer 2025 edition, is a special edition on Tokyo entitled "The Tokyo Diary Issue." Purple has now grown to a massive 462 pages in hardcover, but in fact its original style was heavily influenced by Japanese magazine culture.

"When we came to Tokyo in the 1990s, Japan's printing culture was very active, and we were influenced by the small format of magazines, which is unique to Japan. We realized that fashion magazines could also be made in a small format. The Japanese know how to get straight to the essence and pack a lot of information into a limited space."

Japanese photographers are also important to Zahm, especially Takashi Homma and Chikashi Suzuki, longtime Purple contributors who are featured in this Tokyo issue. Zahm recalls meeting Chikashi Suzuki:

"When Suzuki Chikashi was 17 or 18 years old, he rang the bell at the Purple editorial office in Paris and told me and my then-partner Ellen Fliess, 'I'm a big fan of Purple and Anders Edström (photographer and filmmaker). I'd love to work for Purple.' I suggested, 'Martin Margiela's new collection will be announced next week, and I'll be the stylist, so why don't you shoot it?' He was thrilled, and we did our first shoot right away."

This episode is deeply engraved in Suzuki Chikashi's heart: "When I was a student, I saw a documentary of Martin Margiela photographed by Anders Edström in the catalogue of the exhibition "L'hiver de l'amour bis" held at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and it made me decide to go to Paris and visit him.

初対面でブックを見てくれた後に、アンダースは『パープル』の編集部に連絡してくれ、そこからキャリアがスタートしました。“l'hiver de l`amour bis”の展覧会をキュレーションしたのは『パープル』のオリヴィエとエレンで、そのことは二人に会ったときに知り、自分がパリに来た理由は全て繋がっていたんだと感動したのは今でも思い出します」


In the case of Takashi Homma, Zahm was so inspired by Homma's first photo book, "Babyland" (Little More, 1995), that he immediately faxed him a request. Homma describes his encounter with "Purple" as follows:

"Purple was originally an underground magazine like a zine, and I've always loved that kind of thing. I first met Ellen, and then whenever Olivier came to Tokyo, we would chat over breakfast at the hotel he was staying at. Once it was at the Hotel Okura, and now it's Cerulean."

Zahm says he senses a "non-individualistic" aesthetic in Japanese culture that is not found in the West.

"I think what's great about Japan is that it's a very disciplined, coded society. At the same time, it's also a very collectivist society. In Western culture, individualism is an important value, but it's a fairly superficial one, based on consumerism and self-centered values. Japanese artists don't seem to care much about their own ego. They seem to genuinely love their work and pursue their vision in a very obsessive, impersonal way.

This is what I call "deep individualism," and it is the polar opposite of consumerist individualism. For example, I am always impressed by the attitude of artists and potters like Takuro Kuwata, who repeats the same thing over and over again in an effort to get as close to perfection as possible. I think this is an attempt to transcend the ego. To me, this is "deep individualism," and a reaction against superficial consumerist individualism.

Honma also felt relieved when he read Zahm's lengthy editorial in the latest issue's Tokyo special feature.

"I thought it was great that Olivier still had the intellectual journalism of his early 'Purple' in bringing up Roland Barthes (the philosopher)."

As editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, Zahm has always been fascinated by Japanese photography, and has consistently used Japanese photographers from the first issue to the present.

"Japanese photography is very essential, graphic, poetic, and sensitive. Western photographers generally have a strong tendency to engage in dialogue with culture as a whole. In other words, photography in Western culture is a critique of pop culture. Look at photographers like Nadia Lee Cohen or Martin Parr, and you'll see that. Japanese photography lacks that ironic perspective. I think Japanese photographers thoroughly pursue the essence of photography."

Purple has become a media outlet that plays a major role in disseminating Japanese photography to the world, but long-time contributor Suzuki Chikashi is concerned about the following issues.

"The photos of Tokyo that Olivier sees are not of the fashion or commercial world, but perhaps something a little more core. It's not the Japanese value that says being good at everything is top-notch, but rather the idea is that editors help to develop the individuality of their photographers by having someone who only shoots in one field take fashion photos. In the 1990s in Japan, there were many magazines, so something similar was possible, but now people are looking for something that will get an immediate response, so it may be more difficult to find people who can thrive with new forms of expression than in the past. Paris in the 1990s was also financially tough, which led to the emergence of magazines like Purple and Selfservice, so I hope that in Japan today, a new generation will create new things."

On the other hand, Zahm feels a strong sense of crisis about the current state of digital addiction.

"In today's age, consumerism extends beyond material objects to digital images. The images that abound on social media and digital platforms have now become addictive consumer goods. That's why I think we need to take a break from the digital world and get more involved with art. The digital world is violent and intensifies feelings of isolation. I believe that getting involved with art and fashion is a way to live more authentically. Art is a mirror that reflects us, like an exoskeleton. Technology actually isolates people. That's why I think we should go back to print magazines."

Zahm has a positive outlook on the future of magazines and print media.

"People will start to want content that is really interesting and different. I often work with luxury brands, and I'm lucky that they still value magazines as a creative platform for fashion, and that they value the quality and uniqueness of print magazines. So there's no need to fight digital. I think digital media will naturally disintegrate, just like how no one watches TV anymore. Magazines are the only place where you can really engage with art and fashion personally, without the digital noise."

Zahm, who continues to maintain his indie spirit, has his own expectations for the new generation.

"I'm making a magazine for 10 percent of young people. That's because those 10 percent are ambitious and, like me when I was 20, are looking for a new, different world. They're looking for an alternative. The videos flooding social media are simply self-produced by the masses who don't want to change the social system; the masses just want to perform within the existing system. But the new generation wants to change the system itself. They want to stand up against the system and destroy it (laughs)."

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