Jeans All Day

It seems like these days, the universe is shouting from the mountains, "Buy a new pair of jeans!!!". Not only did I recently finish a strenuous brief for Levi Strauss & Co. but a few weeks back, I had a blessed opportunity to style an advertising campaign for Jean Machine's Spring Collection. 

With a quick call from a creative producer I work with from time to time, I found myself clearing up my schedule, and penning in the day of the pull as well as the shoot date. I would have 2 days to prepare myself for my first ever (legit) commissioned styling job, and for some reason, the nerves just didn't kick in. Perhaps it was due to my thankful opportunities to work with some driven stylists in the past, perhaps it was thanks to my experiences assisting on sets as an intern at FLARE... Perhaps it was all the days spent running around buying clothes on my credit card to dress models for my own personal shoots, or perhaps it was the lack of coffee in the morning. For whatever reason, I felt ready. Although the amount of time I had was barely enough to finish all my homework for the week and buy accessories on budget before and after classes, I pulled through. On the day of the style pull, I jumped on the subway at 8:30 missing my morning Research class, and made it to the Yorkdale Jean Machine location in time. After a run through with all the models (did I mention there were 8?) of their sizes and looks, I started creating a mental image of each look (did I mention there were 3 looks per model?) for each model and began putting 24 outfits together. I had no clue how I was going to pull this off, especially with the buyers, art director, and creative director behind me watching my every selection, but within just 3 hours, I had set aside 24 completed outfits with roughly 20 extra pieces as backup. 

Just a hectic day after running around by myself in the Eaton Centre to pull accessories and shoes (S/O to my Call It Spring girls who helped me so much <3), the day of the shoot arrived. With my packed up suitcase filled with my budgeted purchases, I jumped into a cab and arrived at the Backroom Agency in time. As we were shooting at the building of the ad agency that was taking this campaign on, I had a very cool opportunity to check out the place. Thanks to the assistant buyer and social media coordinator of Jean Machine, I was able to unpack all the clothes, accessories, and shoes all in one small room and begin styling the models one by one. Whenever you do any creative shoots (film, photo, ad, whatever) you always have to take into consideration Murphy's Law. Unfortunately a few pieces I had pulled were not packed so of course, some improvisation had to occur; I had to improvise 3 new outfits for an additional model who was not present at the style pull that I had totally forgotten about; and I had to modify some of the outfits as per the buyers requests from the set. All in all, the experience was a fantastic one, where not only did I get to watch and work next to the amazing Caitlin Cronenberg, but I learned so much about what it really takes to be a stylist, who depends on you, what responsibilities you have to be ready to take on. It was definitely a lot more than I had considered, but not an experience that turned me off from the job. If anything I've definitely become more aware if anything, of the tremendous focus that's required and expected. I've gained even more respect for the stylists I've worked with and I'm so happy to have had the opportunity. Excited to take on more of these challenging and demanding opportunities, I'm hungry and ready for more.

Waiting for the final campaign to take over Jean Machine stores and website soon... for now, here's the BTS shots from JM's insta.