80's Trend! - 3rd Editorial Shoot

The brief for my 3rd editorial shoot with London College of Style was the 80's!  Looking at the way leading designers visit a seen before trend and rework to look contemporary.  Focusing on key silhouettes and features that make a trend identifiable and then putting a modern spin on it.  I was inspired by the glamour that the 80's ultimately bring to fashion, power dressing at its best couldn't be better portrayed than in the Dynasty soap that flooded the 80's.  The larger than life characters of Alexis Colby and Krystle Carrington ring through to this day of shoulder pads that you can't help feel nostalgic about the drama of it all.

I was keen in my mood board to represent these dramatic geometric shapes of power dressing through bright colour blocks and metallics with referencing from Versace Fall collection 2015, Balmain, Armani Prive, Oscar de la Renta and Betsey Johnson Spring 2015.  Iconic images from the 80's soap sit alongside demonstrating a clear reference to this defined look.

Once I had settled on my look I sourced a vintage 80's suit from Windsmoor deciding to stick with the jacket that was beautifully cut and mixing with a leather pencil skirt from Top Shop to give a modern twist.  I paired this look with a silk green pussy bow blouse and felt the rich colours worked really well together. Some statement heels finished the outfit and helped pull the whole look together.

Next we needed to look for a location and as I'm starting to realise with editorial styling contrast surroundings work best to really highlight a look.  So with 80's glamour in mind where better for contrast than East London, Bethnal Green.  With its graffiti and market stalls we settled on a plain backdrop of white wall.  In order to give you a feel of our surroundings I have enclosed a photo below, where you can see it certainly wasn't glamorous and yet the images clearly capture the decadence of the 80's whilst minimal back drops help to give the clothes a contemporary feel.  

Once we had arrived at the location it was time to meet my model from Nevs Models, a gorgeous red head called Anna Tatton who couldn't have been better chosen as she complemented the clothes beautifully.  Then it was straight into hair styling with Carolina Crona we discussed leaving Anna's hair down but with lots of volume.  Then over to Martin Carter for make-up and the decision for red lips was made, which looked great with the rich emerald green blouse.

Celebrity photographer and editor of 'Jon' magazine Leigh Keily took the shots, I've worked with Leigh previously on my United we Stand shoot and love the way he interacts with the models he works with.  He really knows how to get the best out of them to get the right shot.  I am really pleased with the results and love seeing the initial ideas come to life, there is no mistaking the 80's referencing here and yet strangely it doesn't seem too out of place today even in Bethnal Green!

This is the last of my editorial shoots with London College of Style for now, but I intend to update you with more test shoots in the New Year as part of my growing portfolio.  So please continue to watch this space, as well as other updates on exciting projects including a music video that I was fortunate to be involved with.  Until next time, thanks for reading.............xx