Elle Muliarchyk has been described by the Sunday Times Style Magazine as ‘fashion’s first guerrilla model’. The Belarus-born model becomes her own photographer, art director, make up artist and hair stylist as she sneaks into designer boutiques and photographs herself in glamorous outfits. The changing rooms are the backdrops for her photographs, where stories are created either using the
objects already present or through the addition of props that Elle
brings with her- the most bizarre including a 300-year-old mirror, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and a 6ft cuddly panda.

Starting as a way to practise posing for shoots, the photographs quickly become a vent for the frustration she felt at the lack of creative expression available to her- “I’m a model. I’ve always been forced to wear things. Taking
pictures of myself is revenge on a situation where everyone takes
control of me.”

Staff typically assume she is either a shoplifter or a copyist stealing their designs, and there have been several occasions where she has been discovered, kicked out and even arrested. Despite this, Elle has no plans to tell the shops what she’s up to, thriving instead on the adrenaline of the fear of being caught.

Having been compared to artists Vanessa Beecroft and Cindy Sherman, Elle was profiled by The NY Times Magazine earlier this year, and an exhibition of her photographs was on view during NY Fashion Week. More interestingly, Elle’s pictures have raised a discussion of whether this is art, vandalism or just "stealing dresses’ souls".

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see more images at Showstudio here