SS&Co. Fall/ Winter 2015 ~Evergreen

7 sleepless nights, 2 panic attacks, and one full day shoot later campaign Evergreen is finally done! With a crazy talented team of girls (some definite girl power on set) and two awesome models, I finally feel like FW15 is coming together nicely. Toronto Fashion week is just around the corner and I have said it once and I will say it again, I AM BEHIND! Basically being behind has just become the norm.... SO putting together this shoot was a whirlwind but a necessary step in my fashion journey. 

Without the encouragement of my good friend and stylist Amber, I would have never taken the plunge to produce a full on campaign shoot. Up until now I have always shot a few indoor and outdoor shots and used them throughout the season. This year being my third Fall / Winter season and third collection I wanted the tone of the collection to really show through, so what better way to tell a story and build excitement than a GORGEOUS campaign!  

So when the perfect opportunity presented itself I jumped at the chance to try something new! As per normal with every new adventure comes lesson to learn and grow from. Throughout the day I made some notes and here are my 5 lessons/ tips that I thought would be helpful for any shoot:

 1. TEAM WORK! Put together a team that has rockstar talent!!  Your team should be 100% on board with your vision and excited about your brand/ products. Create a mood board, share it with your team and get input because it maybe your shoot but they are the experts at what they do ;) If everyone is excited than it will show through in the final product!

2. LOCATION: Indoor shoots are pretty easy as long as there is good space and seating I am generally pretty happy. OUTDOOR shoots are a bit trickier. Scouting out spots before the shoot with your photographer is super helpful. Especially if you have specific shots in mind. A skilled photographer can make most settings work ( Thx Steph!) but having specific spots pre picked will just make the day easier.

3. FOOD: Everyone has to eat and it is super important to keep that energy up! It doesn't need to be a full buffet of food but little snacks and drinks are helpful to the models and team to get through the day! ( thanks for thinking a head Amber;))  

4. PLAN: I hate planning and I never like to follow a schedule so the best way for me to organize things is the make a skeleton plan and go on from there. Plan a few MUST HAVES so that you guarantee certain aspects. For me I really wanted the Beauty/ Beast theme to show through. Because of the mood board everyone was able to pull together their talents and create looks that completed my imagination.

5 DIRECTION: As a designer I tend to be more scatter brained than methodically thought out. Giving your team direction is super important. While everyone is there to do a job, the final goal is to create your campaign, editorial, look book... ect. If you don't know your own direction no one else will either.

I am always crazy grateful for all the collaborations that I am able to be a part of and this one is no exception.  I want to give a BIG thank you to the following people:

SS&Co. FW15 Evergreen