If you are following us on Instagram or Facebook, you may have noticed us getting incredibly excited about a certain photoshoot!
We organised a bumper Les Enfants extravaganza last Friday, and wanted to show you a few behind the scenes shots to get you as excited as we are to see the final pictures. This year, we wanted to organise a shoot which celebrated artistic collaboration, and showcased talent that we had come across on Instagram.
There were a number of wonderful teams involved, including fantastic cake bakers Cutter and Squidge, biscuit goddess Maid of Gingerbread, paper art guru Annemarieke Kloosterhof and wonderful balloon team Bubblegum Balloons.
The first thing we organised was a concept and moodboard with Art Director and Photographer, Hannah Coates. Without giving too much away, we wanted a colourful vibe, a fantastic location, and a theme which combined all of our found Instagram teams.
Together we organised a concept pack that really illustrated our aspirations for the shoot, and started casting models and creative team. We found Ashlyn Gibson, a wonderful stylist, and Rachel Jones, a fantastically creative hair and make up artist.
We also came across The Clapton Laundry, a great location with lots of different textures and rooms including two stunning wooden panelled bathrooms and a gorgeous open plan kitchen with wonderful, layered blue tiling.
After booking creative team, the next step was to talk to all of our wonderful Instagrammers to discuss what exactly we would like each one of them to create for the shoot. It was important that it fitted with our concept, but also allowed each individual the creative freedom to really show off their style.
During the next few weeks, we started receiving pictures of each element’s construction, and we really started to feel the shoot come together. This is when everything started to get incredibly excited, and the project really started to feel alive!
To give you a little background on each collaborator, Annemarieke is a third year student at Central St Martins. We were drawn to her incredible portfolio, which features stunning collage and paper cut work, such as her incredible lung and heart pieces. We asked Anne to create a beautiful dutch house, and a 3D geode inspired installation for our location.
Cutter and Squidge are a delicious bakery based in Soho. Annabel and Emily, the sisters behind the brand, wanted to launch a bakery that delivered tasty treats that were created with 100% natural ingredients and colourings. Perfect for kids! They provide a huge range of tempting and beautiful desserts, including their signature creation, The Biskie – a cake biscuit sandwich crammed with a yummy filling made with no artificial additives. Flavours include green tea and raspberry, salted caramel and lychee pearl. YUM.
Maid of Gingerbread is ran by the lovely Emily Garland. Emily has a background in woodwork and construction, which explains why her delicious creations are as sturdy as they are tasty. She is well known for her baking expertise and her stunning sculptures, which include a full tea set, a DeLorean and of course, a beautiful range of Hansel and Gretel inspired houses.
Finally Bubblegum Balloons. Ran by three lovely ladies, Sally, Laura and Meg, the balloon company boasts a huge range of stunning confetti filled balloons, gorgeous tassel garlands and great foils too. The ladies have been involved in a range of fantastic projects, and can create exactly what you would like for your event.
On the day of the shoot, the teams pulled together, and started installing their creations around our fantastic location. We used almost every room in the three story house, including the bathroom (it would have been a crime not to, it was stunning). We all had fantastic work outs running lighting kit up and down the beautiful spiral stair case, and have subsequently cancelled our gym subscriptions.
The day was spent directing our fantastic four models from Kids London and guiding them from scene to scene, until the end of the day when we all fell around the gingerbread and cake and ate a great deal. Cue reinstating gym subscriptions.
It takes a great team to pull together a photoshoot on such a large scale and we are very thankful to everyone involved, just a few of which are pictured here. A huge shout out goes to all of the fantastic assistants on board, including the lovely Rose Sapey and Mirren Rosie, who did a fabulous job of helping everything run smoothly and keeping everyone happy and sane!
The photographs are currently being retouched. We literally cannot wait to show them to you. Watch this space!
Behind the Scenes Photographer: Rose Sapey
