James Allen

One of fashion's most sought-after snappers, James Allen Allen grew up in Austin, Texas. In the late 80's, he began selling handmade jewelry and heirloom quality engagement rings to University of Texas students in Austin. He later formed the company that's best known now as allen allen,usa. In 1999, Allen's relatively "quiet" life in Malibu came to an end. He met Dewey Nicks. James hired Dewey Nicks to shoot for allen allen and they started to collaborate and hang out. Things snowballed when Nicks introduced Allen to Sofia Coppola. The rest, as they say, is history...Today James is best known for his highly polished, exotically bright ad campaigns and his "in the moment" styled photographs of every hot scene all of which carry a deceptive air of nonchalance. Now at the top of his profession, he has shot Alessandra Ambrosia for Guess? campaigns, Boy London, Saturday's Surf NYC and more, as his work has appeared in W Magazine, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Shape, Teen Vogue and others. Luxe, another one of his ventures, takes up most of his time now, but between shooting and music projects he has been focusing on the likes of Shakira, Selena Gomez, Pink, Wiz Khalifa, Jesse McCartney, Natasha Bedingfield, P Diddy, One Direction, Corinne Bailey Rae, Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne and Jesse J. "Music was always my first love and the new label gives me the ability to express that." It doesn't come between his love of being behind the camera. His popularity with ad execs, designers and fashion editors stems as much from his professionalism and good nature as his unerring ability to take beautiful pictures which sell just about anything.