Blogger's Alibi

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The exclusive behind-the-scenes story of VARSITY STYLE Fall 2013.


Last week I did three updates. That's not too bad, right? It's two more than I need to do (since this blog is currently under the scrutiny of my media course markers). But before that Lea Michele post I'd been neglecting the blog quite a bit. To be honest, I was neglecting just about everything. But I have a good reason, an alibi of sorts, and it's gasping at you from above this text.

VARSITY STYLE. The free digital style supplement of the University of Cape Town's Official Student Newspaper, and my goal for 2013. The first issue of this biannual celebration of fashion is finally out - and I am thankfully still in one piece. It's been a blessed journey to produce the 85 page magazine.

On facebook VARSITY has uploaded behind-the-scenes pictures of all the big shoots from the first issue with (hopefully) cute little captions. Of course, the story of all those shoots could fill a small novel. So I've decided to condense them into a rather substantial blog post. Here goes.

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO SEE THE FULL BTS ALBUM



PUTTING HEADS TOGETHER. Me putting the final touches on Nomzamo’s outfit in the Hiddingh Hall rehearsal room used for the shoot. Photographed by Michael Currin.

Trust Your Instincts, the most important magazine editors always say. I knew we needed Nomzamo Mbatha on the cover - but at the time we shot her nobody could say for sure whether she would become an epic success or a bit of a failure. She ended up landing one of the leads in Mzansi Magic's new show Isibaya (and she's fantastic in it) so that turned out well. Lesson learned: trust your instincts.

I remember the day I realized we'd need to shoot the cover in 2012. Nomzamo was finishing her exams in November and jetting off for JHB. This meant I needed to organize a fall fashion shoot during the height of spring... and my end-of-year exams. Fun.

Local designer Kat van Duinen came on board and saved the day: the store had plenty to work with when it came to styling up the Fall 2012 trends, not to mention the fact that we're showcasing local design on our cover. Very important.

Ideal situation: we shoot Nomzamo in a studio with a white backdrop. Reality: we shot her in front of one of Michael Currin's (the photographer) white sheets in a room at Hiddingh. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.




SHOT CONTEMPLATION. The “Coated” team discuss the next shot. From left: Kyusang Lee (Photographer), Daniël Geldenhuys (Fashion Editor), Djavan Arrigone (Model Mentor), Nqubeko Sithole (Model), Lauren Telo (Beauty Mentor). Photographed by Barbara Fourie.

I discovered middle campus three quarters into my first year at UCT. I fell in love with the Economics building: the clean-cut lines and modern angles made it perfect for our coat story. Organizing a venue for hair and make up was a bit of a mission, finally solved by the amazing people at IAPO, but nothing in comparison to sourcing the coats. Imagine carrying three trash bags full of heavy coats on two buses to get them home. Actually, don't image it - for the sake of your sanity.

This shoot was nothing short of a miracle. At the 11th hour everything fell apart: venue, photographer, major clothing supplier. Watching it all come together was like watching Will Smith solve do a Rubik's Cube in The Pursuit of Happyness - you're amazed and grateful it all works out.

Shoot day was a classic example of the joys of shooting the wrong season on the wrong day. It was hot as hell and I was forcing the models to be rather active in heavy coats. The trick is of course to put the coats on at the last minute, and in a shot like the one in the picture above, only dress that which will be in the shot. At least there were no blood or tears.




FIGHTING FOR THE SHOT. Riaan Giani captures the conflict in Unknown Union. Photographed by Barbara Fourie.

Kloof Street Collections shoots are always fun on the day provided you did sufficient pre-production. I've dubbed it a safari shoot: we go into all the best stores on Kloof Steet and shoot outfits from each store in the store. It's easy to do because you don't have to carry bags of clothes around, and visually it's impossible to get bored because each shot showcases the most interesting element of each store.

This was the first time I'd ever been on a shoot with four models. And the first time I was in charge of a crew of 8 people. Cut to me doing a head count every ten minutes - very primary school teacher.

One of my favourite shots from this story is in Unknown Union, where photographer Riaan Giani had the idea of perching our male models high up on the eclectic in-store shelves. Having heard about Kyle's vast knowledge of martial arts/fighting/whatever, I told him to put Kyusang in a headlock. This may be a good time to mention that no models were harmed in the making of VARSITY STYLE.





FINDING BALANCE. It’s not every day Model Amanda Leemis needs to balance on a tree branch in heels, but her dance training gives her the edge she needs to pull it off. Photographed by Barbara Fourie.

 

Ah yes, Palace Grounds. We shot this one on a beautiful farm just outside Somerset West - that's about a car drive long enough to teach the crew what a nervous driver I am away. The crew of four fit perfectly into my father's Peugeot 206 - they insisted the car was quite small, I insist the car is colossal. It's like driving a cloud.

One of the most exciting aspects of VARSITY STYLE is our collaboration with Boss Models. VARSITY prides itself on being a developmental agency, something Boss Models made possible for VARSITY STYLE by signing on to provide mentors or the models, photographers and beauty directors of our fashion pages. On this shoot we had photography mentor Byron Keulemans: he's shot more Men's Health covers than he can count, worked with GQ and Glamour, and - and this one floored me completely - had lunch with the Beckhams. Needless to say, we all learned a ton.

Amanda Leemis, our model, is an American exchange student at UCT. While in Cape Town, she was scouted by Boss who now wants to send her back to her home country to do bigger jobs. She was a joy to work with - definitely a face to watch. I'm deeply thankful for her ballet training as I believe it is the reason she could balance on the branch above in heels two sizes too big.





FLASH-BY. Photographer Paris Brummer waits for the moment to get the best action shot of the faster-than-the-speed-limit skater Decio Lourenco. Photographed by Daniël Geldenhuys.

There was an article in the September 2012 issue of VOGUE (from here on, if I just say VOGUE, it means US VOGUE) about designer skateboards. As I read it I thought, "we should do a menswear skater shoot!" When you think male skaters in Cape Town, you're most likely to think of Decio Lourenco, the dude who slid down Kloof Nek at an unlawful speed. It had to be him. And so it was.

We were a mini crew: Decio, Paris (the fantastic photographer who I've been threatening to shoot with) and I. The plan was to shoot on the street, but when we got to our carefully picked out street it was raining. Change of plan: we went into the bottom level of a parking garage of a centre which shall not be named.

That's the exciting thing with shoots: something like the weather can cause you to completely change your concept on the spot. I actually much prefer the whole underground vibe - and Paris managed to work with the dodgy synthetic lighting like a pro.


And that's the story behind the fashion pages. I wont bore you with features and design and copy and web and marketing and stuff. Now that I've thoroughly enjoyed my walk down memory lane, it's time to look forward (as we fashion folk do) to the next issue. Til' spring then.