Posts tagged ‘kids fashion shoots’
GIRL POWER !
Fantastic to see Marks & Spencer are doing a brand new activewear collection for girls. So as you can imagine, I was really excited to style this shoot for them. It’s a fabulous range for 5-14 year olds with vibrant geometric print vests, dip-dye leggings and slogan tops. All the sportswear pieces are made from an ultra-light elastane blend that sits close to the skin and helps regulate the body temperature. I think the fitnesswear looks amazing and the little models on the shoot really enjoyed wearing it. What a great incentive for kids to keep fit, active and healthy.
PHOTOGRAPHY – OLIVER SYMONS THOMAS, FASHION STYLIST – BECKY JOHN, HAIR & MAKE-UP – JO BULL
KIDS CHRISTMAS FASHION – JINGLE BELLES & BEAUS
Last Sunday we all pitched up at our hygge vibe location in East London to do this fabulously festive shoot for Slick Mummy Magazine. Hope it fills you with Christmas cheer!
PHOTOGRAPHY – IAN HOOTON, FASHION STYLING – BECKY JOHN, HAIR & MAKE-UP – SARAH MCLLWAIN-BATES
KIDS FASHION – EN POINTE
Our beautiful ballet story was dreamt up in a coffee shop in Soho. Whilst idly chatting over a cappuccino about all sorts of things, from our children’s dance shows, to enthusing about Sia’s video for song ‘Chandelier’ and the fabulous sheer organza fashion in the latest issue of Vogue, photographer Helen Marsden and myself realised we’d come up with a rather lovely theme for a kid’s shoot. A sort of mad Swan Lake at home.
Like many girls, I’ve always loved ballet and took lessons from aged 2 until I was a teenager. But felt this shoot shouldn’t be exclusively girly. Things have dramatically changed since I was little when it was seen as quite extraordinary for boys to do ballet. My Father was bemused when my brother Jonathan pleaded to do classes. His reaction was very similar to the Dad in Billy Elliot – “No son of mine is going to be a bloody ballet dancer!”
Luckily opinions are so different now. Premier league footballers, front-row rugby players even heavy weight boxers are all at it. It’s an amazing discipline for core strength, agility and flexibility. The boys in our shoot were as proud of their fabulous barre work as we were of them!
There was a flurry of excitement at the shoot. The children loved dressing up in tutus, feather headdresses and wings. They had such fun, leaping and pirouetting over the furniture in Helen’s beautiful house. I’m thrilled with the pics as were Little London Magazine who used the story in this month’s issue. What lovely team work – Bravo us! We should all take a bow.
PHOTOGRAPHY : HELEN MARSDEN, FASHION STYLIST : BECKY JOHN, HAIR & MAKE-UP : ROSE ANGUS
MODELS : FREYA, POPPY, MEG, & ISABELLA from GRACE & GALOR and ARTHUR & BRAM
Thanks to Freya & Poppy’s lovely Mum Jodie for the behind the scene pics.
KIDS FASHION – LONDON CALLING
I love London and obviously love fashion, so styling this kids photo shoot was perfect for me. These striking images for glossy magazine, Little London were shot in two phases. Firstly, talented kids’ photographer, Daniel Pangbourne ‘set the scene’ shooting the background photos. He really put in some leg work here, zooming around London shooting the most iconic buildings from The Albert Hall in Kensington to The Shard in London Bridge. Luckily, a fabulously sunny day was chosen where the sky was vibrant blue – a rarity in London Town!
A couple of weeks later we did the kids photo shoot in The Factory Studio, South London. The models, photographer Daniel and lovely hair & make-up artist, Rose met up at the studio bright and early. As per usual my car was groaning under the strain of so many amazing clothes by designers such as Stella McCartney, Stone Island and Bonpoint. We had a very busy day. The kids were fantastic – running, leaping and jumping around the studio against a white backdrop. What energy!
After these two shoots, the images were digitally combined to produce theses stunning images. So here you have it – CAPITAL FASHION!
PHOTOGRPAHER – DANIEL PANGBOURNE. FASHION STYLIST – BECKY JOHN. HAIR & MAKE-UP – ROSE ANGUS.
KIDS FASHION – THE HAMPTONS PHOTO SHOOT
When I was asked to style a kidswear shoot the client called ‘The Hamptons’ I imagined jetting off to New York State. No such luck I’m afraid, this time the budget didn’t quite stretch to an overseas trip. So if we couldn’t go to The Hamptons, The Hamptons would have to come to us!
We ended up in an East London studio that became our base. I was sure it would all pull together and look amazing as I was working with such a fantastic team. First of all, set builders constructed a whitewash, weatherboard backdrop and then it was up to me to find some really eye catching props that would make the images come alive.
The day before the shoot I headed off to ‘Propland’ – the name in the trade we give to an area in West London where all the furniture and prop hire houses are situated. Soon I was elbow deep in all types of seaside and Americana paraphernalia – flags, bunting, binoculars, sailboats and starfish! I remembered that there were also some lovely kids’ stripy deckchairs in my daughter’s Wendy house that would come in handy too.
It was fun doing a day ‘propping’, usually I’m trampling up and down The West End sourcing clothes for editorial shoots, but as it was a shoot for well known brand Mothercare all the lovely nautical clothes were supplied by them!
The big shoot day arrived and we had such a gorgeous array of little models ranging from 14 months to 8 years old. Ross, our photographer is always brilliant at making the kids laugh so I knew the pictures would look really animated and lively!
The trickiest part of the shoot was the group shot. It was challenging getting all 6 infant school kids in a line, looking in the same direction and smiling all at once. The children’s clothes and hair had to look just right too so lovely make-up artist Freya and myself had to madly rush in and perfect the look in between each shot.
Working with kids is exhausting and I’m always ready for a G&T at the end of the day. But it’s totally worth it as you can see by these fabulous pictures – That’s a shore thing!
PHOTOGRAPHER – ROSS BOLGER, FASHION STYLIST – BECKY JOHN, HAIR & MAKE-UP – FREYA DANSON-HATCHER and ROSE ANGUS, CLOTHES – MOTHERCARE
BEHIND THE SCENES OF A BABY FASHION SHOOT
Hear the word ‘model’ and you’re most likely to think of a tall, willowy figure in striking clothes and Manolos. Well, they’re not always like this on every photo shoot I work on. This month I styled a gorgeous fashion spread for glossy magazine Baby London and our supermodels were newborn Harlen (photographed above with beautiful Mum Chelsea) and 4 month year old Lily and Hunter.
So what exactly happens at a baby shoot you might ask. Well in my case so much happens beforehand. All the clothes and props have to be sourced and as magazines work 3 months in advance I always seem to be working in a different season from the one we’re in. For me it’s swimwear in Winter and faux fur coats in the middle of Summer. It can get very confusing! Anyhow I trundle off to Fashion PR’s who hold all the next season’s samples. Most days, come rain or shine, I’m staggering around the West End weighed down with clothes like a glorified bag lady.
After the clothes are sorted I start work on the ‘softs” as they are called in the trade. That’s all the throws, cushions, duvet covers and sheepskin rugs used to make a snug little room set for the baby. This is so important to bolster up babies that can’t sit up by themselves and also gives a soft landing if they’re a bit wobbly!
Then comes the shoot day. The crew – photographer, digi assistant, make-up artist and myself arrive at the studio at least an hour before the tiny talent arrive. Babies get bored and tired very quickly so we try and get them in and out of the studio as quickly as possible. Preparation is key. The photographer perfects his lighting, the make-up artist lays out brushes and I hang up all the clothes and get to work on my room set. The heating is also blasted up so the babies are kept nice and cosy.
Once parents and babies arrive it’s all action! We tend to run around making tea for the parents and making sure they’re happy and relaxed as little ones feed off the vibe of their Mums and Dads and we want everyone to have a really fun time. We get cracking pretty swiftly, the babies are dressed, go through hair and make-up and before they can even gurgle they’re on set ready to go!
To get those fabulous baby smiles all the crew have to have a turn entertaining the talent. I have a kit bag bursting with tickling sticks, blowers, cuddly toys and bubbles that even Mary Poppins would be proud of. The photographer takes the lead and then we all have a go, parents included, singing songs, reciting nursery rhymes, pretending to sneeze, in fact we’ll do anything to get a chuckle. The make-up artist and I, tissues in hand, share ‘Dribble Patrol” – drool is quite a liability in baby photography. Yes, I really look a picture of sophistication on kids shoots, armed with Kleenex and long tickle feathers, running around like a mad woman in Sahara Desert temperatures. We do stop for loads of breaks though as babies get really tired and hungry quickly – milk breaks always figure high up on the agenda.
And before you know it, it’s all over. The babies generally snoozing happily in their car seats are ushered out of the studio and the crew, shell-shocked and exhausted, start the grand clear up. It’s a mad way to earn a living but as you can see by the pics really rewarding too!
PHOTOGRAPHY – JONATHAN MALPASS. HAIR & MAKE-UP – ROSE ANGUS. FASHION STYLIST – BECKY JOHN. MODELS – GRACE & GALOR AGENCY
KIDS FASHION – FEATHERED FRIENDS
It was the hottest day of the year when we did this beautiful kids shoot. So in June I trundled down to The Factory Studio in Clapham with the car crammed full of fabulous feathered and textured clothes. It was a bit of a nerve wracking shoot as it was being filmed by Channel 4 for a documentary about the kids model agency Bizzykidz. Luckily I was styling with a fantastic team that I have worked with for years – Photographer, Daniel Pangbourne and Hair & Make-Up, Sarah O’Keefe. Here are the results…..
KIDSWEAR – PRINTS CHARMING
I was thrilled to work with the American brand Little Name. This little girls collection is so innovative and imaginative. Founder and designer Alexis G McVicker had previously worked as a print designer for such companies as Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and OshKosh B’gosh so clearly very talented.
This ‘Rain and Shine’ range is ingenious. Behind the whimsical beauty it boasts all sorts of amazing qualities, such as the sun protecting collars, spill proof “get dirty in” fabrics and practical pouch pockets. But as a stylist, I loved the “grow into” factor – size adjustable, loose silhouettes that allowed me to put the same clothes in children from 3 to 9 year olds. Obviously with Alexis’s background the prints are totally gorgeous with their playful vintage feel. All in all, it is a winning collection.
So why shoot it in the UK? Alexis told me, “I truly enjoy vintage nostalgia and an old authenticity that is found in remote areas of the world … making the English countryside a lovely atmosphere for the collection.”
So what does the future hold for Little Name? Well, Alexis has recently become a new mother and she says this is spurring her on to create more gorgeous kidswear collections. “Our beautiful daughter is called Fable… Maybe a fable-themed inspiration could be in the making.”
That sounds fabulous – I can’t wait.
Photographer – Richard Burns. Fashion Stylist – Becky John. Hair & Make-up – Sally Kvalheim. Location – Wingsfield College, Suffolk.