Who better to capture Milan’s duality of spirit and layers of narrative than the eminent Japanese photographer Fumiko Imano? Famed for her self portraiture featuring her fictional twin, Imano puts places and protagonists in surprising situations, presenting them through an original lens. For our Introducing Milano campaign, we entrusted her with our new object of desire, the Milano handbag, to create a real-time retrospective. Here, she tells us about the campaign, her process, and what draws her to the sweet spot between fiction and reality.

Valextra: Fumiko ciao! What were your first impressions of Milan and what do you feel makes it unique?

Fumiko Imano: It was the marble-stone buildings and the food which is so very simply cooked and tasty.

V: How did you conceptualise the link between the legacy of a Milan-based Valextra, and its position in the current zeitgeist with your campaign?

FI: We had an idea of both an old time and the present. Our model, Grace Elizabeth, is young, but has a very mature personality so it was a perfect match. I also really wanted to show some scenery of Milan.

V: Your work evokes thought and comparison between fiction and reality; what draws you to explore this juxtaposition?

FI: I hate seeing my past now, but photography is about the past. By the time I see these photographs as a third person, it becomes my fiction. 

V: As in your campaign for Valextra, your style of work examines the individual as well as their alternative personalities – what attracts you to these elements the most?

FI: Appearing as myself in a commercial piece of work feels like I’m stamping my signature on it.