April 23, 2008
SS/08 Photo Shoot in South Africa
Back in December 2007, Ruth Ross, Head of PR and Marketing at Faith, headed off to the sunny climes of South Africa for Faith’s Spring/Summer collection photo shoot. But despite the glorious weather, do not be fooled into thinking it was all sunbathing, relaxing and drinking Stellenbosch wine…
It is 4am in South Africa and the Ruth springs out of bed. Despite the early start and the long day ahead, she knows that the photo shoot for Faith’s Spring/Summer collection will be extraordinary. The team, which also includes local stylists and photographers, have planned every detail meticulously, from the selection of the location and the models to the range of key Faith products and high fashion outfits.
The backdrop is the unspoilt South African landscape: sand dunes as far as the eye can see, rocky mountains that peak in the heavens and lush green hills to take your breath away. Renowned as a popular tourist destination, it would have been easy to simply point the camera at a beautiful beach and snap away but that would have lacked the ‘edge and sophistication’ that Ruth is after: “We want to avoid the typical beach scenes and the holiday brochure look. These aren’t the tourist hotspots in South Africa. In terms of what is on offer, there is a vast selection. We want to take advantage of its versatility.”
Also incredibly versatile are the two models Ruth spent a lengthy time casting. The models need to look healthy, be the right age and in addition, the one female and one male both need to sport a different look in each setting while still providing continuity for Faith, the premium, sexy brand. Ruth explains the criteria: “It is very much like casting for a film. The models need to have chemistry with each other and a similar appearance without looking like brother and sister. And as stunning as they are individually and with each other, it is paramount that they have great feet! A person can be incredibly beautiful but when we ask them to remove their shoes… it could be a whole different story!”
Luckily for Ruth, after many hours choosing the models, she found her perfect pair! The next dilemma was selecting the right products. With such a fantastic range of shoes to choose from it is hard to pick just a few to shoot, these products would need to reflect what will happen in stores: “Faith need to forecast trends and make sure what we have on the shoot is accessible to customers. For example, we think that the Tribal trend, in particular animal print, is going to be big in spring and summer. We have brought along the Clat platform shoe for our shoot on Paarl Rock. If someone sees these great shoes on a poster, we want it to be available to them. We don’t want to disappoint our customers.”
“To complement our great selection of shoes is the Faith Solo Designer range. For this, we wanted to create a slightly different feel from the rest of the shoot. In our planning, the female model was to wear this white dress with our gorgeous shoes, however, with a sunset in the background, we realised that it would look like a honeymoon photograph!” Thankfully, due to careful fore-planning, the stylist would be on hand with a selection of high fashion outfits just in case something doesn’t look quite right.
With all the detailed planning for Faith’s Spring/Summer collection photo shoot, it’s hard to envisage that anything could go wrong. From photographing the carefully selected models in front of the serene South African sunset (which also includes: “hoisting a couch on to the beach which will be fantastic!”) to enduring the scorching sun and blustery cold wind, it looks like the final product will be a triumphant success and thoroughly rewarding for all involved.
Hope you like the images and love our new collection for spring/summer.