Behind the scenes with Fashion Mode

In mid July, through a series of fortunate events, I ended up behind the scenes of the Look Book shoot for Fashion Mode designer Carlotta Actis Barone's Spring Summer collection.

We patiently, with quite some reigning in on Jordanna's part, waited until Fashion week had passed to release the photos and blog so as not to give away the surprise of the new pieces.

Pandora's Thoughts have been following Fashion Mode's journey for some time now, and have always loved the way that Carlotta creates her collections with such strong messages entwined with them; so it was a huge deal for us to be even a small part of the journey from creation to catwalk.

(Above: our seasons shooting them - SS11, AW11, SS12) 

The official photographer for the Fashion Mode Look Books was Thomas Knights; a well established and fabulous (not to mention got-to-be alternative voice over for the X-factor) fashion photographer.

If you think you don't know him, you probably do. Although he spends most of his time behind the camera, he was in front of it slightly more this year, when he was featured on Channel 4's show "Dirty Sexy Things" shooting adorable welsh designer Elliott J. Frieze's Look Book in Paris.

Anyway, to the day in question. I rocked up in my usual completely non-fashionable garb + camera to the illustrious Il Bottacio at Hyde Park Corner.

As the team rolled up, we set up and went to work. I snapped over 2,000 shots during the day behind the scenes, from make up and hair, to Thomas and co in action, to Carlotta whimsically watching her creations come to life before her.

Styled by Fashion Mode Creative Director Andrea Abraham. I briefly chatted with her about Fashion Mode, and it is quite clear she is a woman on a mission. Speaking of how some incredibly talented designers spend their careers potentially unnoticed simply because they are missing bit of business experience key to getting their garments sold. She works with designers, nurturing their talent and adding her years of experience for 10 seasons until they are ready to "fly the nest" as it were. All I could think was what a beneficial stance she has taken. You hear at Fashion Week more often then not people talking about "such and such upcoming and coming designer that no one has heard of yet", so to see someone putting in the leg work to get those unknowns out there into the spotlight I think is truly a worthy cause to go to work for (not to mention 1 day with them makes it abundantly clear how fun it is!).

Here are some of our favourite shots of the day, as well as of course capturing some Pandora's style shots of our own...

With many thanks to Fashion Mode for inviting us behind the scenes and for making it such a great day.

To see how the final official look book shot by Thomas Knights turned out, or for more information on Fashion Mode or any of their designers please visit: http://www.fashionmode.co.uk 

For more of our images from the shoot; behind the scenes or Pandora's Thoughts final images, please visit our website: http://www.pandorasthoughts.com

For work by Thomas Knights: http://www.thomasknights.com

Elliott J. Frieze Warms Us Up

We almost walked right by the Charing Cross Hotel on our way to the Elliott J. Frieze show, as we'd gotten a little used to looking for someone holding an umbrella (On|Off's map of choice) to point us in the right direction.

But! Once inside, we followed tealight candles lining the staircase where we had been directed, the pathway to our destination, and arrived mid champagne reception to toast "putting the colour back in our cheeks."

It was not long before we all made our way into a room with a significantly different set-up. A labyrinth of a catwalk, laid out so that almost every guest could not only sit front row, but also have the opportunity to see each outfit from all angles.

As the models began to emerge it became clear exactly how much preparation had gone into the show, not only with the clothes, but with timing of the models crossing each other on the runway - made to look effortless while I am sure it was not!

Mr. Frieze had a very interesting use of corduroy, with high collars for men, high waists for women and natural colours to start things off.

The natural colour palette continued, flowing through different shades as we delved deeper into the collection. Creams became browns, browns moved into grey and ended in black.

Womenswear was sexy and accentuated the natural curve, with coats that moved almost as if in slow motion, like they do old movies when the hero is walking into the face of danger or away from a burning Bentley. While menswear encompassed brilliantly tailored pieces, with ties at the waist and padded shoulders. Some topped off with either a high collar or a scarf.

My favourite piece of the collection (you are all going to start thinking I am addicted to dresses which is only half true!) was a floor length grey gown, held with a wide black tie at the waist and teamed with a cropped black jacket (the only draw back to photographing it was the same the one throughout the show, and his green trousers could be spotted from every position in the room!).

The movement on the dress was amazing!

There was a significant scent of the sexy seventies (say that five times fast), with aviator sunglasses  and briefcases to boot and was figure flattering to say the least. The kind of style that makes you feel like a classy undercover detective when you wear it.

For these reasons I think Elliott J. Frieze's designs are a lot like his choice of venue.
Elegantly subtle - at a quick glance you could miss it, but if you take a minute to follow the candle of your curiosity, you might just find something unexpectedly wonderful.