The sensuality and extravagance of cocoa is explored in “a box” of moving portraits, created in homage to this month’s Brussels Chocolate Week by NOWNESS regulars and siblings Santiago and Mauricio Sierra. The New York-based team’s rare take on the pop aesthetic has earned them collaborations with the likes of Dior and W. For this creation, they used Flemish Renaissance-inspired bonnets—a nod to the chocolate region’s equally rich artistic legacy—to festoon the models, recreating the ribbon- and garland-packaged indulgences of the season with the help of fashion’s freshest faces, captured in furtive moments of ecstasy. Yet our affair with the bittersweet delicacy isn’t all that mysterious in light of its chemical powers of seduction: the cocoa bean contains organically stimulating substances, such as the euphoric anandamide, the natural aphrodisiac arginine, and tryptophan, a proven antidepressant.
Photographed by Santiago & Mauricio; Makeup by Maud Laceppe; Hair by Diego da Silva; Styling by Keegan Singh; Producer: Cesar Leon; Casting Director: Larissa Gunn @ Art & Commerce; Models: Giedre @Women Mgmt, Katrin @ Women Mgmt, Melodie @ Women Mgmt, Ilva H @ Supreme, Karoline B @ Supreme, Iris E @ Supreme