Well Mister September, you familiar flame-coloured, crunchy-leaved month, man do you have a task on your hands. Go on, better your late Summery predecessor, I dare you….
August has unquestionably been the best month in a long time, and this past week, the finest of the year so far. I have, in the past day, returned from my most amazingly memorable, shiveringly perfect fashion shoot yet, and as a result feel a powerful, overwhelming sense of exhilarated exhaustion, elation and emotion. During two sun-kissed days situated on Argyll’s spectacularly scenic coastline, my outstanding team and I laughed together, ate together and together, undertook the sort of fashion shoot which dreams are made of.
Thank you from the bottom of my glowing heart to my one-in-a-trillion photographer, David; David’s spectacularly dynamic assistants, Anna and Ksenia; my frighteningly beautiful and spectacularly gifted model, Martyna; make-up artist extraordinaire, Vikki; expert stylist and spiritual godless, Sally and the most crucial, precious component of all — the twine which binds each element of every single shoot together — Evelyn, my amazing assistant. Couldn’t do it without you mum.
And you know, yet might not believe it, the entire day prior to shoot lift-off (and the best part of the day before that) was spent collection-free, miles from the studio doing, well, lovely non-fashion, weekend-esque things. Did I feel remotely guilty? Not even a tiny fraction. Amazing what Sunday dinner, inspiring company and fantastically wise sources of distraction can do for pre-shoot state of mind. I guess I could’ve remained studio-bound, working on nothing in particular and stressing over minor non-existent areas for potential disaster. As it was, everything was done, dusted, and hot to shoot by the middle of the previous week and so, in no uncertain terms, while the collection hung in waiting, the weekend was my oyster of relaxation. I think I rather like this new method.
Crear in Kilberry, the stunning base for our shoot, has to be seen and experienced to be believed. As the crazy woman behind the location selection, I am entirely certain that the rest of the team (my own mother included) believed I’d lost my marbles (or a great deal more of them) with this one…until, that is, they drove across the breathtaking surrounding landscape and set foot in Crear itself. It isn’t the handcrafted, wooden under-heated floors or elegant spiralling staircase. It isn’t the exquisite, individually styled bedrooms; acoustically magnificent gallery; unique contemporary art; extensive library; impressive grand pianos and delicate harpischord; nooks; cranies or surprises around every tranquil corner. It isn’t even the roll-top baths or giant walk in rainforest showers. Infact, I struggle to put into words exactly what it is. Visit and you’ll know. Really you will.
Official unveiling of my Spring/Summer 2011 Crear Collection will take place very soon, and wowee am I excited! For now, here’s a wee snapshot of the wonders which were undertaken on location this week…
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