Fashion
Maisie Coulbert
Figuring Out The Fashion Industry December 12, 2016 | Maisie Coulbert
Just a week after receiving her first set of wings and stealing the Victoria’s
Secret fashion show in Paris, Bella Hadid was nominated for international model 2016 at the British fashion awards. Narrowly missing out to her older sister, Gigi, Bella is hell-bent on carving her own name into the fashion industry. And what better way to do this, than with a rebellious, screw the system shoot for Paper magazine?
Photographed by Nicolas Moore and styled by her good friend Farren Fucci this shoot is a colourful and fiery display of identity.
When first starting out in the industry it can be difficult to make a name for yourself, even for celebrities. Kendall Jenner had trouble avoiding the Kardashian stigma and experienced bullying backstage and Bella finds it hard not to be compared to her older sister. Originality and personality are key traits for any artist especially within the fashion world.
My Advice? To help you follow in Bella’s footsteps and battle your way through the fashion crowd I have put together a few pointers for planning and executing a successful shoot. These will help ease the stress and enable you to focus on creating something amazing. If you follow these simple steps it will pull everything together and ensure you walk onto set focused, prepared and with a clear mind ready to push the boundaries and produce a set of photographs with your signature style.
- Find your inspiration There is no point trying to organise a shoot without a clear vision of how you’d like it to be. Whether you draw inspiration from magazines, film, music or even nature, it is important to really be passionate about what you’re trying to create. The best way to portray this is by creating a mood board of your ideas and I’d recommend using Pinterest for this. With 100 million users it is one of the biggest online catalogues of images and one of the major pluses to creating an online mood board is that you can email it out to your team.
My Pinterest boards
- Assemble a team This could be the hardest or the easiest step depending on how you approach it. If your budget is low, using websites such as PurplePort and Model Mayhem are great as you can send out a casting call, stating that it is a collaborative project and everyone involved will be working on a Trade For Print (TFP) basis.
- Scout a location Personally I always shoot outside and so I have to do a lot of recon. If you want to shoot on private grounds you have to gain permission from the landowner. If you would like to shoot in country parks or the grounds of stately homes, there is always someone who handles media requests and whose email can be found on the locations website. If you are shooting in a studio you can find local ones online but make sure you are clear on what the prices involves. Does the total price include insurance and use of all lighting equipment? Are you free to change the backdrops? Can you bring in your own props?
- Keep the ball rolling It is so important to maintain contact with your team. I always like to send out a confirmation message the day before to everyone involved just to make sure everything is set and no one has forgotten or is ill. There is nothing worse than a model not showing up or cancelling last minute. Make sure you have your model release forms ready to be signed and provide refreshments for your team. Good luck with your shoot, comment below and let me know how it goes. You can also submit your editorials to Collective, go to our contact page to find out more.