The morning of September 12th was bittersweet for me. I was excited to be shooting the Whitney Eve show that afternoon, but it was also my last show for Kryolan and to top it all off, it was my 3rd anniversary. Luckily my husband is very understanding and knows how big an opportunity it was for me to shoot during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, so we decided to celebrate when I got back to Boston. I was extra excited to shoot the Whitney Eve show since I have been following Whitney’s path to NYC Fashion Week since her days on The Hills and The City, working at Teen Vogue, People’s Revolution and Diane Von Furstenberg. Her links to People’s Revolution are still strong, with Kelly Cutrone directing her show that day. From the way some people have described “Cut-Throat Kelly” on America’s Next Top Model, I was a little nervous, only half-joking when I said, “I hope Kelly doesn’t make me cry!”. But in the end I loved working with her and she even flashed a smile my way.
The make-up look that day was very Whitney, fresh and pretty. These adjectives also described the models in the show to a T. Shooting their final looks was a total joy, and being in the show seemed like a total joy for them!
Whitney Port, and several of the Whitney Eve staff (including her sweet sister Paige Port), had their make-up done by Kryolan with the same look that was applied to the models. When Whitney designed the look with Dominic Cruz, key make-up artist for Kryolan, she explained that she wanted it very accessible. To accomplish this clean, soft, dewy look Dominic focused on neutral tones that were featured in Whitney’s 2013 Spring Collection. He used a tinted moisturizer and concealer, a taupe eye shadow, a smudge to the bottom lid line, a heavier brow for the androgynous look (since the collection takes some inspiration from menswear), a shimmer with a pearlized satin powder, some gloss to the lips for some luster, and then to buff it all down he went over the girls’ faces with a pearlized shadow. This wearable look was complimented by face framing slick hair set off by white bobby pins. Their nails were painted with Zoya nail polish with a white base and a racing stripe down the center. I loved seeing that Whitney had written out who got what manicure and pedicure colors out on a big white foam core board, rather than on an excel sheet like I would have done. It was just so her and cute. Zoya also did Real House Wife of New York, Kelly Bensimon’s nails backstage as she chatted up the models.
My muse that day was Li Ming Geh. She was the epitome of a Whitney Eve girl, effortlessly cool. She even came in that day in a chunky sweater not too dissimilar from the ones featured in the Spring 2013 Whitney Eve collection. She had a casual ease to her yet she was elegant at the same time. In a span of about a minute she gave me about 40 different fabulous poses for head shots. I didn’t even know you could do so many headshot poses that were all pretty! She was a real pro, but was so incredibly nice as well. The other girls were tons of fun too. Some gave me some super animated poses. I have got to commit some of these poses to memory when doing shots of my brides in the future!
After the girls had most of their hair and make-up done it was time for the rehearsal. Whitney and Kelly watched carefully as the girls came down with the lights on full blast. Kelly encouraged the models to smile a bit more since this was a happy collection. I was impressed to see Whitney take it all in and make many notes on the final looks. She expressed to Dominic that she wanted the look to be a little more dewy. As soon as rehearsal was done the Kryolan girls quickly adjusted the make-up to get the desired effect. I took a few more “final look” shots to reflect the changes and then it was time for me to make my way back out to the pit.
Richard Renda of Totally Cool was there once again making sure I had the perfect angle for my coverage of the runway show. The lights dimmed and then it began. Unlike in the other shows I covered where they turned back on all the lights at once in a big flash, Kelly Cutrone’s team perfectly executed an AMAZING dramatic start for the show. As lead model walked forward the lights turned on in succession, following her. It kind of gave you the feeling that the model was bringing light to the room. It was fantastic. The clothes ranged from tuxedo inspired separates to flirty dresses. The girls’ faces shimmered on the runway just as Whitney wanted. I am sure tons of young girls out there will be trying to get their hands on the Kryolan products used in the show. I liked Whitney’s choice of accessories, particular the Quay sunglasses and the metal anklets by her very own line Bits and Bobs. They both made for a great pop on the runway. At the end of the show, Whitney came out and gave a little wave and a smile. That smile then grew to a mile wide when she seemed to excitedly spy a special friend in the audience. After the show Whitney took questions from the press but also took the time to take photos with some of the aspiring little fashionistas who attended the show. Capturing that sweet moment was a great way to end my first FABULOUS Fashion Week with Kryolan.
If you’d like to see all the images I took from the Whitney Eve show, check out the following slideshow.
