Why don’t you.. check out these awesome photos!

Photo by Greg Kessler, Illustration by Somsack Sikhounmuong.

Season after season we comb through hundreds of images from the runway, picking our must-have looks and top trends for the coming season. But often times, our favorite photos are the ones taken before the runway, the backstage snaps captured as models get prepped for the show – and mug for the camera.

For the Fall 2012 season, fashion photographer Greg Kessler sought out to capture these moments, and bring them to life in a whole new light. He teamed up with illustrator Somsack Sikhounmuong, and together they were able to harness the chaos, excitement, and electricity that pulsates backstage, and translate it onto paper. Kessler traveled to shows in New York, Milan, and Paris, and felt that there was a certain energy in the air this season. He asked Sikhounmuong to add his lighthearted, colorful illustrations to the images, creating pure magic. “The final collages reveal something you cannot see in the air backstage but something you can feel: the chaos, the drama and the emotion,” Kessler told NOWNESS.

Follow the jump for more photos!

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All Photos by Greg Kessler, Illustrations by Somsack Sikhounmuong.

Source: NOWNESS