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
