Raquel arrived on set FULL of energy as usual. I hadn't seen her since we went to Rio with Mario Sorrenti for the xx issue. She is a blast. She is the hardest working girl ; we worked for almost 22 hours one day in Rio, Raquel in a pool, virtually naked and freezing and she didn't complain once. Today she literally danced into the studio saying hello to every single person and greeted me with a giant hug (I was happy she even remembered me! haha) She wore simple black Balenciaga jeans, a black v neck sweater, an Isabel Marant chubby fur and giant furry boots.
We got started walking through the clothes right away. George is not the pickiest boss in terms of how I usually set up. I typically set up quickly, he doesn't mind if I'm not finished when he arrives or if something is slightly out of place but when we shoot with Inez he tells me, "set it up like a boutique, Jaime!!" I have to hang each item in order of our storyboard, print images of each look and put in a binder in the same order, the jewelry and accessories have to be immaculate. When he walks through with Inez and Raquel, everything is just so.
After a brief walkthrough, it was clear what direction George and Inez wanted to go. Both of them are quite precise and it doesn't take long for them to make decisions. Now we just waited on the guards to arrive with the jewelry George had picked out from Fred Leighton, Primavera, LalaOunis and Siegelson Gallery. When we pull fine jewelry, we need to have guards handle the pieces which is nice, it takes the pressure off of me! Look at these incredible pieces!
Since it was a Friday, everyone was very laid back, excited for a weekend off. Look at these funny pics of Raquel and Inez and Vinoodh's studio manager, Mark Kroop! We put this Givenchy hat on Raquel to see if it worked with the Junya suit and instead we decided she looked like a flight attendant for Gaga Airlines! The feathers on Mark just made him look crazy! Seventies disco music blared most of the day, that's George's favorite. When in doubt, always put on Grace Jones to make him happy! Raquel danced around loving the music. George joked that she was born in the wrong era, that Raquel was supposed to be at Studio 54. She agreed; dancing in shoes and not much else. "George, would they let me in like this you think??"
George asked last minute that I get feathers for this shoot. (We didnt use ONE feather!!) But look how incredible they are. We had some boas made from a feather specialist and the rest were pulled from the amazing feather archive that NY Vintage has.
After Gaga Airlines, hairstylist Christiaan made what looked to me like a "There's Something About Mary" hairstyle! Look how funny! They left it up for a while but the shot they chose with this Rick Owens look was just messy and not so tall.
Inez and Vinoodh shot so fast. We did about 15 shots between 12 and 8pm and I absolutely love the images. It was such a typical George shoot; devastatingly chic, expensive, boyish but with some nudity.. It was so beautiful. I also loved how tan Raquel looked. She always looks very pale with her perfect porcelain skin but there was something sort of 70s with her tanned skin today (thanks to makeup artist Lisa Butler). It made it slightly more playful to me; a bit cooler.
This might be our last shoot of the season so I have a bit of time to relax before fashion week. I am really excited and it's always great to end the season with such a successful shoot. Hope you like it and have enjoyed the other stories. I cant wait to see what the shows have to offer and what next season will bring!