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Photographers Bruce Weber (left) and Mario Testino. In January 2018, The New York Times reported that male models had accused Weber and Testino of unwanted advances and coercion. Testino has recently sought work in Southeast Asia. Photo: AP

Mario Testino taps Asian millennials for private photo work, as fashion shuns him over sex harassment claims

  • World’s most high-profile fashion photographer has been approaching wealthy Southeast Asians for work, after Vogue and others stopped working with him
  • Testino was recently in Myanmar, where he met Ivan Pun, Hong Kong lifestyle entrepreneur. ‘He is just a friend,’ Pun says
Fashion

Embattled lensman Mario Testino, long considered the world’s most high-profile fashion photographer, has recently resurfaced in Asia.

Earlier this year, a damning report in The New York Times revealed accusations of sexual harassment from 13 male models. While Testino denied the allegations, he has since been shunned by the global fashion community.

Shortly after the allegations were made public, Condé Nast, the publisher of magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, announced that they would stop working with him. Fashion labels Michael Kors, Burberry and Stuart Weitzman also cut ties with the photographer, who in his 30-year-long career has shot everyone from the late Princess Diana to Madonna and Oprah Winfrey.

While Testino has kept a low profile since the story came out, he has recently approached wealthy millennials in Southeast Asia for private photo sessions, the Post has learned.

 

The Post could not independently confirm the information, but an Instagram search showed that Testino travelled to Yangon, Myanmar, at the end of November, where he and his team met Ivan Pun Chi-ching, founder of Pun + Projects, a lifestyle company that operates restaurants and galleries in Yangon and Hong Kong.

Pun confirmed that Testino is working on “personal projects around the world” at the moment. “I am not working on a project with Mario,” he added. “He is just a friend who was passing through town so I showed him and his team some old spaces.”

Fashion photographers Bruce Weber, Patrick Demarchelier and Terry Richardson have also been accused of inappropriate behaviour.

Ivan Pun recently met photographer Mario Testino in Myanmar. “He is a friend … I showed him and his team some old spaces,” he says. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

The accusations have prompted a reckoning in the fashion community and shed light on issues of abuse similar to those that have come to the surface with the #MeToo movement in Hollywood.

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