The urban images of non-models toting Oroton bags and accessories received media coverage around the world and led to a return to the product as ''hero'' following 12 months of Oroton using supermodel Daria Werbowy, which also did much to drive international brand awareness. ''Last season was all about Paris and that relaxed look and straight away I thought of Tommy Ton in the way he gets so close to the product and [captures] that intimate feeling,'' Escobar says of the Jak & Jil blogger's tightly composed shots that focus on accessories rather than the people wearing them.
''I found his number on his website, then called him and said, 'I'm Ana Maria, I work for Oroton.' I sent him a couple of samples and we had that right energy, so it was easy.''
Escobar says her previous choice of Werbowy was also born out of the theme of her spring-summer 2010 range, rather than any desire to cash in on the model's fame.
''It was great to have her with the brand but after Daria, everyone was asking me, 'Who's going to be the next model?' and I didn't want that to happen. It wasn't that we chose a supermodel for the sake of it; the theme of the collection was gypsetters [bohemian globetrotters] and who could be a bigger gypsetter than Daria? It was more about that concept than anything else.''
Partly aimed at countering the post-Werbowy expectation that Oroton would use another supermodel, the Ton and Tomasi Hill collaboration, Escobar says, was also about ''turning the cameras around. It wasn't about the model talent in front of the camera, it was about the talent behind the camera: the photographer and the stylist.''