NATALIE IMBRUGLIA WEARS CORRIE NIELSEN ON NEW ALBUM COVER 24/09/2021

Collaboration in commercial art can be a complex undertaking. Competing ideas and personalities need to coalesce around a clear narrative. There is always a challenge in finding the right designers, photographers, and writers whose styles can work together to tell a coherent story. The cover art for Firebird, the sixth studio album by Natalie Imbruglia, perfectly merges the talents of world-renowned fashion photographer Simon Procter, stylist Masha Mombelli, and designer Corrie Nielsen. 

The songs on Firebird delve into issues like feminine empowerment and overcoming adversity, so it was important for the album cover to reflect these concepts. The cover art shows Imbruglia wearing a Corrie Nielsen evening dress adorned with lace and sequins together with a duchesse satin cape. The singer-songwriter is surrounded by clouds of blue smoke as if to depict a phoenix rising from the ashes — an appropriate motif, seeing as Imbruglia’s new album marks an endpoint to a long hiatus from the music scene. 

As a trained fine art painter, Procter focuses on shapes and atmospherics in his photography work. His style perfectly complements the darkly romantic beauty of Nielsen’s sculptural garments. These elements, in turn, work seamlessly with Mombelli’s styling techniques, whose multilayered looks play with colours, volume, and textures to convey a message. 

The collaboration on the cover art for Firebird is a clear example of successful artistic collaboration. Together, these artists’ styles create a compelling image that celebrates the exhilaration of finding one’s voice and the beauty of rebirth.