The London Magazine - Cover Shoot

Tis the Season!  And although in London, and everywhere else where it should be freezing now, the temps are quite mild so it hasn't felt much like Christmas.  But being the week before Christmas I thought I would share with you my experience working on the cover shoot for the December issue of The London Magazine.

The London Magazine is actually supported by the real estate industry in London.  It's a great source of luxury, high-end properties, but they also have a great culture section, focusing mostly on West London (Kensington, NottingHill, South Kensington, Holland Park, to name a few).  We actually live in their distribution area for the magazine so I was super excited to receive it in the post.

Prepping for the Shoot
I had been working with a stylist called Wendy Quintana for a few weeks when this opportunity came up.  In preparation for the shoot we discussed ideas, with her referencing the mood board that she was sent by the creative director of the magazine.  The theme was white, winter wonderland, winter fairy, with sheer, flowing fabrics or white, light fabrics with ruffles or volume.  I immediately thought of this emerging designer that I had seen at London Fashion Week and we decided to contact them to see if they would have pieces to lend.  Below are the looks that we were interested in.

After seeing a few of their designs I'm sure you can understand why all of the looks we were interested were already out on loan.  Big disappointment! So we got back to it and contacted some other pr firms and ended up getting some amazing things from Carolina Herrera, Alberta Ferretti, and Gina Shoes.  Once everything was in I worked with Wendy to put together some optional looks for the shoot that was the next day.

Day of the Shoot

The day of the shoot was not as hectic and crazy as I thought it would be.  I arrived at Wendy's flat around 9:00 and we jumped in a car that she had ordered with 1 large suitcase and a collapsed rolling rack and made our way to the shoot location which was in St John's Wood, a lovely neighborhood in North London, very residential, with some amazing houses.  The shoot location was a massive house with 3 floors, an amazing garden in the back, and could be your's for around 15M GBP or $22M.  We had to be super careful in the house as not to get anything dirty.  After meeting everyone, as any good assistant does, I was on coffee duty, taking everyone's orders.  After everything was unpacked and laid out it was time to dress the model and confirm with the creative director the looks that were to be used for the shoot.  The magazine spread would consist of the cover page and an inside page so 2 outfits were needed.  After steaming, primping, and all the equipment set up, and about 4 hours later, they were ready to start shooting.  

Below are the images as they appeared in the magazine.  working with such a great team makes all the difference.  The day went by quickly and the images came out beautifully.  All in a super fun day of work!

Credits

Stylist: Wendy Quintana

Assistant Stylist: Lore Koijen

Hair: Nina Beckert

MUA: Julia Jacobs