Paris Fashion Week SS 2013....Ginta

Latvian model Ginta Lapina (Women) after Dries Van Noten, Paris, September 2012.

Recreate Ginta's look (kind of):

Soft camel coat: Ellery classic long trench coat, Joie Teyona coat, Burberry London leather trimmed camel coat, J Brand Beta coat, or French Connection Cocoon coat or Ted Baker tailored car coat

J Brand 901 waxed legging jeans, Rag & Bone/JEAN The legging jeans, Blank Denim spray on skinny jeans (in black), or Topshop Moto black coated Baxter jeans

B Brian Atwood Fragola cap toe booties, Alexander Wang Aymeline booties, Reed Krakoff leather-trimmed suede booties, or ASOS Action Chelsea ankle boots

New York Fashion Week SS 2013...Backstage at Tory Burch

Backstage at Tory Burch Spring/Summer 2013, NYC, Tuesday 11th September 2012.

On a sunny Autumn morning in NYC, Tory Burch presented her SS2013 collection....and it was breathtakingly beautiful. Anyone who has read my blog for awhile will know I love photographing girls with a slight hippie/boho vibe....give me undone hair, a stack of ethnic jewellery collected on far-flung travels, colours which would make a courting bowerbird happy, pretty make-up and I am in photographic heaven. So when I saw the new collection and wonderful hair (thick, messy fishtail braids by the genius Eugene Souleiman) and barely-there make-up ("brows filled in and brushed; Runway Rose {pinkish cream from MAC palette} across eyelid and inner corners of eye; curl lashes; must have brown {greyish cream from MAC palette) through crease and brushed under lower lashes.blend; tiny bit of talking tan on lips if needed, lip balm otherwise" ) I was so happy that the lovely Tory Burch team had invited me to photograph backstage again. Wheat-prints, high, block-heeled tasselled loafers, a turquoise, coral and gold embellished blouse, a tasselled-hooded kaftan (lazy beach days anyone?), tie-dye shorts, skirt and dress, stacks of rings on each of the model's hands (handmade by women in Ghana), an ombre jacket, stripes paired with prints, evening dresses worn with easy-to-wear Moroccan slippers.... I loved it all.

Paris Fashion Week AW 2012...Ginta and Kasia

Ginta Lapina and Kasia Struss, after Louis Vuitton, Paris, March 2012.

Paris Fashion Week AW 2012...Ginta

Ginta Lapina, after Stella McCartney, Paris, March 2012.

Recreate Ginta's look (kind of):

Take a striped body-con dress or skirt: Alexander Wang Engineered striped tank dress, Splendid striped mini dress, Alexander Wang striped dress, Alexander Wang Engineered stripe skirt or Rachel Pally bandage mini 

Wear with a statement jacket/coat: Rick Owens Drkshdw dust denim jacket or Rick Owens Sparta wool flannel coat

New York Fashion Week AW 2012....Backstage at Tory Burch

Backstage at Tory Burch Fall-Winter 2012 show, NYC, Tuesday 14th February 2012.

Things that were firmly on my wish list after the Tory Burch show: a gold bow headband (so sweet and it even had a tiny Tory Burch logo embedded on the bow); a personal hairdresser* on call at all times to coiffure my hair into a french pleat (studded with pretty flower hairpins) - with a healthy dash of messiness to ensure that it doesn't look too prim; a beautiful full length evening dress (as worn by Joan Smalls) complete with seamstress to sew it closed!. How they do this without pricking a finger (or the model!) in the frenetic atmosphere backstage is beyond me; a ladylike chain handbag - I loved the snakeskin and tortoiseshell detailing (okay, so probably my camera isn't going to fit in one of these but they were so gorgeous I would make an exception ;); an oxblood red crinkly-leather (not the technical name but I am not sure how else to describe it) trench coat (sexy and elegant all at once); rolls of Gracie handpainted wallpaper. I adored the backdrop to the runway which was covered in wallpaper depicting Chinese scenes; a pair of Spectator pumps and elbow-length leather gloves; a leather plaid dress, skirt and trousers (for me, stand-out pieces); a simple peplum top (I loved the quote from Alber Elbaz on Fashionista last week "I created the peplum so you can eat in it,” Elbaz said. “You can have a dessert, you can have another sandwich".); a stack of Chiavari chairs (which worked so well with the Gracie wallpaper and printed runway carpet reminiscent of a five star hotel) and a beautiful ivory coat with exaggerated peter-pan collar and bow nestled at the waist.

p.s. The colours are a bit squiffy (the lighting is rather tricky for the way I shoot) but sometimes that's just the way I roll :)

* Eugene Souleiman if possible please ;)