-SZ- FASHION FILM

After having the hour 1/2 rehearsal on November 18th, at 11h51 am today, I was on rue de Rivoli inside the courtyard of an apartment complex in which I was to be inside of by 12h00. I do not know what the problem is with me and directions. I seem to find my way to the destination, however once I'm within feet of the actual door, I become a very simple minded, direction-less little girl. I knocked on two incorrect apartment doors, in which both of the men nicely let me down by telling me I was at the wrong residence.

As my little Nina would say: "Je suis désolé, Je suis américainne..." :)

But after finally finding the correct residence with Ana, the make-up artist and one of the model's*, the -SZ- Fashion Film day officially began...

Saundra Saulnier's got her "game-face" on

 

Getting prepared...
     rearranging the furniture...
Saundra stopped by the bakery before-hand to pick up some croissants w/apple in the middle of them. I must say, they were quite delicious. I didn't have to worry about there not being any left - I actually think the director, Axel, and I may have eaten them all by ourselves :) ...

Axel placed tape on the floor to cue the models on where they should stand

Anna's on the make-up

The owner of the apartment we used for the shoot had a fantastic collection of art. Below is a picture that was originally hanging above the owner's mantle until it got taken down for the SZ shoot. Underneath it is a cool Napoleon piece.

I also loved his library -- I have to have a collection as deep as this! There were books on topics ranging from Bauhaus and L'Art Nouveau to Salvador Dalí and Monet.

     He actually had another one of these on the other side of the room as well

Models get directions from Saundra Saulnier

Axel and Saundra, are we ready?

Models begin to rehearse...

I think the camera's ready to shoot

Lights, Camera, FASHION!!

I loved this part! The model bff's were fighting for "mirror" space

 

View FINISHED VIDEO here!!
* more to come soon: video clips!
stay tuned.

I ♥ NY. I ♥ teenVOGUE.

There really is not a relevant purpose for this posting other than it just being something that's been on my mind. With being in Paris (& even when I am in Davis attending school there) I sometimes start to reminisce about the good ol' days of high school -- start to really miss my girls. One of whom has moved to New York for college and whom I do not see coming back to California to live for a very long time...

She & I in NY in 2008...

With her in mind, I began thinking about my visit to New York last year. Which brought on a string of memories and desired dreams....

Since I was in the 6th grade, I had always wanted to work in a magazine. But not just any magazine...

I had always wanted to work in Teen Vogue, in its fashion section.
...2 of my favvvvorite young, black & beautiful models

Last October of 2008 I traveled alone to New York (for the very first time) to attend TeenVogue's Fashion U.

Getting ready to head to SMF airport to fly into JFK..

Excited!! =)

I ♥ NY

I ♥ Ugly Betty

At Fashion U, I listened to fabulous designers like Phillip Lim, Peter Som, Torry Burch, and a few others, not to mention I got the opportunity to talk to Teen Vogue's editors and the rest of their team. It was great!

I would have gone this year as well, but as you may have noticed, I've been in Paris since August, thus I missed the event. Designers such as Diane von Furstenberg, Thakoon, Richard Chai and Kimora Lee Simmons (+ many more), were all in attendance at this past October's Teen Vogue U.

Me @ TVFU 2008

...red carpet? :)

The most exciting part for me last year was getting the opportunity to speak with Phillip Lim and learning a little about how he got started. Since then, I have grown to really appreciate Mr. Phillip Lim's clothing and he has become one of my favorites. One day I will be able to afford a pair of his gorgeous pants AND a few of his glamorous dresses. Until then, I will continue to adore from afar...

I submitted my Versace "magazine cover"
    ...& what do you know a couple months later I saw a magazine (I think it was Vogue, can't quite remember) place images behind their type as I did...maybe a coincidence or something that everyone does or... maybe they got inspiration from me... ??? I will never know...
& it's coming...  nearer... &...

BLUFF!! POW!!!
THAT'S MY VERSACE!!! hey Gianni, boo!!! ♥

Say say & I goofing off - waiting for the metro..

On my way home from New York, I had to hurriedly basket weave at the airport and on the plane -- it was due that following morning. Which meant: No Sleep :'(

But it came out pretty magnificent...considering my procrastination, my lack of sleep, and my limited resources (I took two yarn colors which probably should not have been mixed together).

Bye, bye TeenVogue for now..

 I shall return to NY someday as a bi-coastal, big-time, magazine exec or something :)

♥

Portfolio 101 + Les Halles = Fashion Marketing FUN!

Date: 6 November 2009
Event: Portfolio Lesson by THE Saundra Saulnier & Comparison Shopping @ Les Halles
Where: Paris [oui, oui] ♥ Saundra Saulnier's apartment & Les Halles shopping mall


This past Friday I met up with the designer, Saundra Saulnier.

She was so kind as to offer me a Portfolio lesson. We met at 11am at her apartment. I had no problem finding her place, I actually kind of stumbled upon the right streets...
The problem came after getting into the apartment building (tsk, tsk...) I sat there for atleast 30 minutes trying to figure out which apartment she lived in. I kept telling myself that she said she lived on the first floor...yet (embarrassingly) I never actually went to the first floor...
So there I was on the ground door taking turns on the only 2 doors down there - knocking on this door and ringing the doorbell at that door. I kept hearing the clicking of someone's heels walking here and there upstairs. Unfortunately I kept ignoring them and started checking out the apartment's bulletin board and mailboxes, hoping to see her name just as a reassurance that I was in the right place (as if the code given to me that allowed me entry at the front entrance was not enough...tsk, tsk...).


Thankfully, after 30 or so minutes, I finally thought to use my human abilities of thinking logically and my fashionista senses & decided to just follow the clickings of the heels...


Voilà. The clicking of the heels belonged to Saundra on the FIRST floor... tsk. tsk. (i know)
    ♥ Don't judge me :)


& Moving right along............


Saundra Saulnier gave me many valuable methods & pointers on how to prepare my portfolio(s). I am really thankful for her Portfolio 101 lesson, I extremely needed it - I'm a senior getting ready to be out in the "real" world!!


Only a few of Saundra's portfolios...

Saundra is currently in the process of creating a mini fashion film for her SZ collection that will be directed  and produced by Axel, a top director who has experience working for Armani and other top names. Check out his Armani ad here:
Axel - Armani


During the lesson, a model stopped by for a short audition/fitting with Saundra. She came and tried on a top - this trip did not last for more than 10 minutes, very short & sweet. Then we continued with the Portfolio 101 session.

Next we went to Les Halles shopping mall to conduct some marketing research.


We checked out all three H&M's, Zara, Mango, Bershka, Tally Weijl and Pimkie. We analyzed the store's window displays, discussed which trends were prevalent, took note of the color palette and took in the overall environment of the retail stores (i.e. its ambiance, shoppers, and layout, to name a few). 

The stores are below.



H&M

& My FAVORITE black dress of the day...

     ♥ Loving it....!

ZARA

Mango

Bershka 

      ♥ I've found a new love...

 

Tally Weijl

Pimkie

So, overall I had a very productive and fun Friday. I think it was a fantastic way to start off my Fall Break from school. I even did a write-up after the experience and plan on using it for my fashion marketing & merchandising final project. Smart, right?!? =)

Did I mention my break started November 5th and will be until the 16th?!? 

Before I know it, I will be back at LAX waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up. Then 2 weeks later I will be driving back up to Davis to finish off my senior year...

Whew! How time flies when your "having fun"... ♥