Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

Mart Alas and Marcus Piggott, or Mert & Marcus as they are known in the industry, have worked for various international Vogue editions, Vanity Fair, W Magazine and i-D, among many other titles. Their commercial clients include Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Versace, Missoni, Giorgio Armani , Roberto Cavalli , Fendi, Kenzo, MAC and Miu Miu. Their aesthetic is highly polished, colour-saturated and hyperreal.

Mert & Marcus have lent their skills to many a fragrance campaign for brands including Gucci, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Lancôme. “Obviously, we are here to sell a product — you can’t disguise that fact — but the trick is to say that message in an unconventional way, where it doesn’t become just about that sale,” Alas told Time in 2003.

The photographers were both born in 1971, Alas in Turkey and Piggott in Wales. The pair met in 1994 in England. At the time Piggott was a photographer’s assistant and Alas was a fashion model, and the two quickly built a rapport and decided to work together. Their joint abilities were clear from the beginning. The first photos the duo submitted to Dazed & Confused made the cover.