The Model Photo Shoot

Cantina is usually the place to be for Sunday Funday, properly speaking.

We did that too, naturally, but this time we actually started the festivities at the Cabana Beach clubhouse, where we had our first official GFW Photo Shoot.

Every season, this photo shoot is the beginning of the legit GFW prep phase. The model list is finalized, and now the real work begins.

Walking clinics, fittings, dress rehearsals, editorials, hair, makeup and wearing out every single article of black clothing you own = our life for the next 5 weeks. Yeahhhhhh buddy.

But we can’t do any of that without first having our models really stretch their legs! And these pretty ladies and gentlemen came and served some runway realness, some of them for the very first time!

Personally, this was my second Official Photo Shoot (I modeled once upon a time when I was just a little wisp of a boy…two years ago), but the excitement was still the same, even if I was behind several camera phones working and not werking.

It’s all suddenly and seriously real once you get to the Photo Shoot; it’s almost more than you imagined. For example, I remember trying out to model for GFW 2011, making it, and thinking, “Hmmm, that’s cute, GFW, real cute,” but then:

1)     You arrive wearing some fierce all-black outfit (mine, then and now, was an exercise in subtle cross-dressing…it’s really hard to find black clothes for guys in the spring, just fyi), with your hair and makeup on point.

2)     The impeccably coordinated Model Team greets you, takes your name and gives you the GFW t-shirt that you will cherish forever.

3)     You pose in front of an all-white background, feeling very much like Madonna in “Lucky Star,” when our Director of Photography or one of his talented interns gives you direction on how to pose.

4)     You desperately recall and implement every sound byte of modeling advice you ever heard Tyra say on ANTM / you just try to look sexy

5)     It’s over and you mingle and feel fabulous and so legit.

For the most part, that is still how things happened this year, but we did change it up a little. We asked the models to bring a change of clothes (something casual and collegiate) for an impromptu photo shoot in Cabana’s lagoon.

I was seriously impressed by the professionalism and pure intuition that our models brought to the Photo Shoot. Not only did everybody look absolutely on point, model like pros and mingle like seasoned socialites, but they hopped-to as soon as a photographer asked them to “pose like this” or “act like you’re just casually talking.”

And these children can WALK, too! I conducted a brief walking clinic on the pool deck, and after just a few run-throughs, I exhausted my “expert advice.” So many naturals!

The day moved back and forth from outside to inside, old friends caught up and new friends were made. We had a special visit from the legendary Gwen Rahn, who’s now living the dream in NYC. We celebrated the engagement of our fabulous and seemingly inexhaustible producer, Tiffany. And we had some delicious sandwiches from Hiro (spicy mayonnaise on a sandwich is a brilliant innovation, guys <3 p="">

It felt like the first week of school, when all these different people start to look like they fit together. I just kind of sat back and said to myself, “That’s cute.” But really it is: we’re a big, cute family and we’re going to do great work together this season.

It will be a fun six weeks leading up to our runway shows. We have lots planned for you to follow, including the pictures of our models and our new website! And some secrets, too =P

 X np