IMAGE SOURCES (from left to right): ti sento milano jewellery - andrea klarin | niall corbet on flickr | fromtherightbank.com | unknown
it was APRIL 2011 and i HAD JUST RETURNED FROM VERBIER SWITZERLAND, SHOOTING THE 2011 AUTUMN-WINTER CAMPAIGN "into the wild" FOR TI SENTO MILANO JEWELLERY. MY COLLEAGUE FROM MARKETING: MISS LILIAN LEYENAAR, WITH WHOM I HAD CREATED AND PRODUCED CAMPAIGNS FOR TI SENTO SINCE 2006 WAS ABOUT TO GO ON MATERNITY LEAVE AND THIS would be OUR LAST PRODUCTION TOGETHER. Upon my return, coupled with several other events AND SUCCESSES LEADING UP TO THIS MOMENT, I was offered to become art direcTor, carrying sole RESPONSIBility FOR the CREATION AND EXECUTION OF ALL VISUAL BRAND LANGUAGE FOR BRANDS TI SENTO MILANO JEWELLERY, CHARMING BY TI SENTO AND BLUSH JEWELS.
A SHORT HISTORY ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE VISUAL BRAND LANGUAGE OF TI SENTO MILANO JEWELLERY:
IN 2008, AFTER 6 YEARS OF WORKING WITH THE FABULOUS AND EVER SO CHARMING DUTCH PHOTOGRAPHER NICO KROON, WE DECIDED we needed TO RE-DEFINE OUR BRAND IMAGE. TI SENTO HAD GROWN TREMENDOUSLY ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL OVER THE LAST YEAR AND WE WANTED TO CATCH THIS MOMENTUM AND BUILD ON IT. WE NEEDED THE VISION, EYE AND NETWORK OF INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONALS, EXPLICITLY FROM WITHIN THE FASHION INDUSTRY, WHO UNDERSTOOD THIS MARKET AND OUR POTENTIAL.
with this in mind, LILIAN AND I DEVELOPED A VERY EXTRAVAGANT CONCEPT FOR THE 2009 SPRING-SUMMER CAMPAIGN, dividing the collection into 3 stories: 2 SEASONAL STORIES WOULD BE CAPTURED IN PHOTOSHOOTs and the 3rd, THE timeless STORY WOULD BE ILLUSTRATED. WE WERE GOING TO MAKE A BIG STATEMENT. 3 CAMPAIGNS, 3 BROCHURES... MY GOD THOSE WERE THE DAYS!
THROUGH STYLIST PEDRO DIAS WE WERE INTRODUCED TO PHOTOGRAPHER AND DIRECTOR ANDREA KLARIN. LONG STORY SHORT: WE WERE VERY EAGER TO WORK WiTH HIM. HIS PORTFOLIO WAS STUNNING, he had such A VAST AMOUNT OF WORK TO HIS NAME AND THERE WAS AN "AIR" of brilliance and importance AROUND HIM IN THE BUSINESS THAT we imagined him to be A LEGEND. in other words, we imagined an older, distinguished gentleman. oh were we surprised WHEN WE MET and IN WALKED THIS HANDSOME COOL 30-SOMETHING MAN... YES, I'M PRETTY SURE WE BLUSHED.
ONE OF THE 2 PHOTOSHOOT productions WOULD BE THE "NYMPH" CAMPAIGN. for this WE ENVISIONED A FLOWING, DELICATE VERY FEMININE STORY IN FADED PEACH (THE COLOUR OF ANGEL SKIN CORAL) AND SILVER GREY WITH RIBBONs and PEARLS. BASED ON HIS RECENT WORK AT THE TIME, ANDREA WOULD BE THE PERFECT PHOTOGRAPHER TO CAPTURE THIS STORY, AND BOY WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED... THE RESULT WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. EXCEEDING OUR WILDEST EXPECTATIONS.
THE SECOND production WOULD BE "BOHEMIAN CHIC" Shooting the following week IN DUBAI, BUT WE HAD YET TO CONFIRM THE OTHER PHOTOGRAPHER WE HAD OUR EYES ON... WE WERE SO IMPRESSED AND IT FELT SO GOOD WORKING TOGETHER, THAT WE DECIDED THEN AND THERE TO ASK ANDREA IF HE WOULD SHOOT THE SECOND CAMPAIGN FOR US AS WELL. AS IT TURNED OUT, THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF A LONG-LASTING RELATIONSHIP. OFF TO DUBAI!
IMAGE SOURCE: private album nicole alexandra, shot in dubai during production
BACK TO April 2011, to when I HAD JUST BEEN OFFERED TO BECOME ART DIRECTOR... I DIDN'T HESITATE a single second! I WAS READY FOR THIS ROLE AND VERY EXCITED TO LEAD THE BRAND IN THE DIRECTION I FELT IT NEEDED TO GO.
ONE THING I KNEW FOR SURE: I WAS NOT CHANGING OUR CORE TEAM. IN FACT, I WANTED TO WORK CLOSER TOGETHER. MAKE MORE USE OF EVERYONE'S KNOWLEDGE AND REALLY PARTNER UP. NOT SOLELY GET TOGETHER TO SHOOT A CAMPAIGN EVERY 6 MONTHS, BUT TO TRULY GET everyone INVOLVED AND BUILD THE BRAND. AND DESPITE NOT BEING IN THE PICTURES, ANDREA'S AGENT, THE GREAT MR EDSON WILLIAMS WOULD PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THIS NEW COLLABORATION.
NOW I HAD TO MOVE FAST. THE 2012 SPRING-SUMMER CAMPAIGN WOULD BE PRESENTED DURING OUR DISTRIBUTORS MEETING coming OCTOBER. THE PHOTOSHOOT WOULD NEED TO HAPPEN ASAP TO SECURE SUNSHINE without having to fly halfway around the world. It was now the beginning of may and that gave us roughly 4 months to concept, develop, produce and execute this. THat MIGHT SOUND LIKE a lot OF TIME, BUT SIMULTANEOUSLY, WE WERE LAUNCHING THE 2011 AUTUMN-WINTER CAMPAIGN that we had just shot in verbier, we were in the middle of DEVELOPING THE 2012 AUTUMN-WINTER COLLECTION AND WE HAD 2 OTHER BRANDS TO TAKE CARE OF WITH THE SAME SCHEDULE ON TOP OF BUSINESS AS USUAL. FORGET about SUMMER HOLIDAYS, WE WERE SERIOUSLY UNDER PRESSURE. OH, AND DID I MENTION THE COLLECTION FOR 2012 SPRING-SUMMER WAS NOT EVEN READY YET!
we booked the shoot for week 42, mid september. we were going to sicily, everything was arranged. as long as the jewelLEry came in on time we were good.
I was in the studio in Antwerp (this was 10 days before we were scheduled to leave), I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS moment... I was STYLING PRODUCT SHOTS, when I received an email from andrea with the weather forecast: a massive storm was heading towards sicily, scheduled to arrive with us. of course, the minute you think you have everything organised and under control... something happens to keep things interesting! this was genuinely not looking good. there was always the possibility it would change direction, but what if it didn't? ... ok, don't panic. what DO we do? everything was booked: accommodation, flights, local producer, permits. do we wait it out? what are our alternatives? we need sunshine and we need a specific landscape for our concept. the following 48 hours, Andrea, Edson and I kept checking the weather forecast like mad men, and in the meantime, we put together plan b.
48 hours later, no change in the forecast. with the support and understanding of our director of own brands mr arjan van zuylen, we decided to put plan b in action. this took us to marrakech. what a magical PLACE! we had a great local producer: mr terry MUNson who managed to scout locations for us within the short timespan we had left. the weather was glorious and the setting could not have been more perfect. we had one day before shooting to determine the final locations and routes and sort out styling and props. and on that day - I don't remember how exactly, i put this entirely down to andrea's ability to "wing it" - a beautiful tent, decorated with attention to the smallest detail, SURROUNDED BY rugs, cushions, lanterns, and so much more... as well as a camel (!!) were arranged and ready for us to shoot with the lovely cato van ee the next morning.
we shot mostly in the desert and around our hotel: "caravan serai". channeling the feel of movie classics "out of africa" and "the english patient", I had BROUGHT SEVERAL PERSONAl BELONGINGS WITH ME TO use in the movie and dress the set of product stills which we would shoot on the last day. the wedding album of my grandparents with a DEep RED VELVET cover, a pair of antique binoculars in gold and mother-of-pearl given to me by my mother and my grandmothers gold powder case with an ostrich pattern.
we named this production "the terra campaign".
A STORY ABOUT EARTH. how it protects and nurtures us and HOW we in turn must care for it. about earths TREASURES. A YEAR IN WHICH THE FASHION JEWELLERY INDUSTRY TURNED TO NATURAL looking STONES, EMBRACING AND CELEBRATING IMPERFECTIONS AS WELL AS HAND MADE QUALITIES and natural materials. A year in which the world began LOOKING TO the african continent once again for it's beautiful landscape, style and culture.
and WHAT DID I LEARN this FIRST TIME FLYING SOLO?
HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO SURROUND YOURSELF WITH GOOD PEOPLE. KIND, INTELLIGENT, FUN PEOPLE! TALENTED, CREATIVE, OPEN MINDED PEOPLE! THAT YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED TO DEAL WITH ANY SITUATION, SO UP YOUR FLEXIBILITY GAME AND ROLE WITH THE PUNCHES. THEY HAVE A WAY OF LEADING YOU IN AN UNEXPECTED BUT NEVER THE LESS PRETTY FABULOUS DIRECTION... GRAB EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN. CHALLENGE YOURSELF, ALWAYS STAY CURIOUS AND INTERESTED IN EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING AROUND YOU. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN AND IMAGINE...
AND IF ALL ELSE FAILS, HAVE A BAILEYS!
with My DEEPEST thanks to THE TEAM:
esteemed photographer & director maestro andrea klarin | best photographer assistants in the business (and great photographers in their own right!) mr Jimmy Mettier and mr frederic bealet | the wonderful charming visionary stylist mademoiselle sylvie portugal de moura | hair & make-up artist extraordinaire monsieur cyril (christophe) lanoir | agent - producer - talent admirer - life coach - leader by example and friend the great mr edson williams | action man producer Terry munson | exceptional product photographer mr sven geboers | incredibly hard working creative talent miss milou scholze a.k.a. dora dora
IMAGE SOURCE (campaign & movie): ti sento milano jewellery - andrea klarin
