Classics

All photos: Mark Shaw

Jean Shrimpton as captured by Mark Shaw

Mark Shaw began working for LIFE in 1952. In his 16 years with the magazine, he shot 27 covers, more than 100 stories which included the magazine's European fashion collections. As a leading fashion photographer, he also worked for Harper's Bazaar, Mademoiselle and a host of other publications. He was one of the first photographers to use color when shooting the runways and "backstage" at the couture shows. In 2004, some of these photographs were featured in an exhibit at the Andrew Wilder Gallery at Svenska Mobler in Chicago. The show sold out in less than two weeks. Subsequent exhibitions of these images in New York and Los Angeles, were equally successful—a testament to Mark Shaw's reputation as one of the top fashion photographers of his era.