Saturday, July 26, 2008

Italian Vogue, The Black Issue


How it works:
It's Monday, the shop is closed, but I'm there to drop something off, pick something up, prep for the week, etc.......no one is booked in, so I'm happy to be alone to get some things done.  Who comes sailing down the street but Patrick Mackie, Camilla Nickerson's assistant par excellence, waving a sheaf of papers in his hot little hands.....we need a meeting, Camilla has a project, can we talk now??????
Well, there's only a trio of top stylists who know they can call upon me day or night for any project they have in hand..........and yes, Camilla is someone we drop everything for.  The meeting is about an idea she has for a shoot, that's happening very shortly, in LA, with Steven Meisel as the photog. Patrick has his storyboard, in this case, a file of ideas and tearsheets, that lead us into a cohesive frame of mind..........in other words, a direction.  Camilla has a very definite idea about what she wants in this story, and we bow before her.........my mind works really well with Patrick, so I get what he's saying, and showing to me.  A plot is hatched, colors are chosen, pieces are designed, and off we go.......
And lo,  a typical production meeting for a magazine story at Ellen Christine.  
This was for the Black Issue of Italian Vogue, a very Special Idea. When something happens like this, a whirlwind forms in the studio, and we frantically proceed towards a deadline, usually a very short time away.  There's never a year to prepare for something like this, but Camilla gives us lead time, and trusts in our sense of interpretation/design, for her ideas.
The pieces are made, picked up, and off they go.........they come back weeks later, and we have no idea if they were shot, if they worked, if they will be in the magazine.  In this world, there are no guarantees, you see.......
But Halloo and Hooray!  The July Issue is on the stands not a minute when we get congratulatory visits from other stylists and designers with whom we work, so we know we're in there.........the girls in the office get us our copies, and we get to see our handiwork immortalized on the exquisite pages of the Fashion Bible: Vogue Italia.
Thank you, Camilla.  Thank you, Patrick.  It's always fun.

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