Fashion depends on the art of photography — from brand-defining advertisements to spreads in the pages of glossy magazines. But as photography, and the ways that individuals share their photographs, evolve, what’s next for fashion? Ask Mirit Weinstock.

An emerging Israeli fashion designer, Ms. Weinstock apprenticed in Paris with Lanvin’s creative director, Alber Elbaz, before launching her own line of women’s wear, Reine, four years ago in Tel Aviv. Each season, the brand’s catalogs — or “look books,” as they’re called in the trade — are full of moody, artful photography. For her spring-summer 2008 collection, however, Ms. Weinstock turned to the popular photo-sharing Web site Flickr for inspiration; the resulting work is an example of how the sense of connectedness and creativity fostered on the Internet can shape art and commerce.

The project started with a café conversation about the creative arts. Ms. Weinstock and a friend agreed that history will treat the inventors of Google and social networking sites better than the artists of the same era. She said the conversation inspired her to browse Flickr with a particular eye for the best and most creative photography. “I was looking for self-portraits in which the people made a statement about themselves,” Ms. Weinstock said.

Through the Web site, she e-mailed compliments to four women and one man who were scattered around the globe. Then she invited those same people to contribute to her upcoming catalog. But it wasn’t just a matter of shooting a stylized fashion model. Each photographer was sent between five and eight garments from the 2008 Reine collection and was asked to shoot self-portraits while wearing the clothes. (The one man in the group worked with a female friend.) The participants were not compensated for their efforts.

Initially, Ms. Weinstock and her contributors had to establish a level of trust. It’s not every day that a stranger asks you to shoot photos of yourself — wearing someone else’s clothes. For the designer, there was potential for misinterpretation, rejection, and even simple theft. In the end, curiosity won out. “When I introduced the idea, people were so positive,” the designer said. “They concept was really new to them, too.”

Plus, Ms. Weinstock gave them no creative directives. “They were totally free,” she said. “All I said was to remember that this is a fashion catalog, so you should be able to see the clothes.”

Ms. Weinstock also emphasized that she wanted visual statements about the people in and taking the shots. “It was really about them,” she said. “This is an international line, and this is an international dialogue. I wanted real people to wear the clothes.”

The finished product includes about 10 shots from each contributor. Each photographer is introduced with some vital stats and a brief question-and-answer interview. Though the five aesthetics differ, the shared link is Ms. Weinstock’s fashion sensibility; Reine is a romantic, relaxed, and slightly off-kilter brand for creative types. The eclectic mix of text and photo styles creates the feel of a photo album or yearbook in which all the girls are Reine-wearing hipsters. They’re approachable and attractive, but just this side of inscrutable.

After all, the subjects are real women — not models — who are sharing something of themselves, so the photographs capture a sense of vulnerability. There is an emotional quality here that fashion models, no matter how talented they may be, can rarely create — and they are not typically asked to do so in this format.

One of the most arresting groups of photographs came from photographer and graphic designer Adrien Pierrette Broom, 27. Based in Connecticut, Ms. Broom (adrienbroom.com) spent about two weeks with the clothes that Ms. Weinstock sent and produced photographs that emphasize contrast.

In a series of black-and-white shots, Ms. Broom worked in a windowless room containing one bright spotlight. Wearing a white pleated dress with an open back, she captured herself in a balance of power and unease. Most attractive, though, is a shot of her in a Connecticut field where local residents dump their discarded bathtubs. The unusual setting offered an eerie backdrop to the simplicity of the belted khaki shift she wears in the photo.

The process included a lot of trial and error, but Ms. Broom dug into the project’s lack of boundaries or rules. “It was exciting to be able to express yourself without any guidelines,” she said. “I got so into taking self-portraits because, in photography, you don’t really get to do that.”

There was one rule though: When Ms. Broom was done with the clothes, she had to send them on to the next photographer. No fair keeping the dresses, which run between $300 and $600.

As if in counterpoint to Ms. Broom’s spooky pictures are comic shots by Tamara Ganor, a 26-year-old Israeli artist and photographer who wore wigs and goofy sunglasses. Tresses, however, were not emphasized in the photos by Sanja Peric, 21, a hairstylist in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Israel-based Lee Kurzweil, 32, created some lush shots in green gardens that put the clothes in noticeable relief. Hers are some of the more dramatic and aggressive shots, which match up well with the sharp attitude she dishes out in her interview. The pictures by the man of the group, Lou Noble, 29, depict a young woman beside an indoor swimming pool — a location with all its bluish, unnatural lighting.

In some cases, contributors sent over photographs during the process to get some feedback, which Ms. Weinstock happily delivered. “If they were looking like a model, I told them not to,” she said.

For a growing brand such as Reine, art-driven territory can be a risk. Will New York retailers get it? Will Parisian retailers want to take a chance? Though Reine has been sold in major markets around the world, the American market has been tough to break into. Regardless, this week, her Web site — miritweinstock.com — goes live, allowing Americans to view the photography project and purchase clothes. All of which contributes to building a business: “Putting the project on the Internet will give the brand greater exposure to much more of an audience,” the designer said.

And a broad audience for a visionary project can make all the difference. “Fashion is in that vague area between what’s happening now and what will be the next thing,” Ms. Weinstock said. If commissioning perfect strangers to shoot fashion photography is the next thing, Ms. Weinstock is well on her way.