A Girlfriend’s Soirée

Zac_Posen_Ecco_domani_032

This past week Ecco Domani launched a special collaboration with fashion designer Zac Posen who created a limited edition bottle design for their classic Pinot Grigio. I’ve been a huge fan of Zac Posen from the runway shows to the red carpet so we really wanted to do something special to celebrate the launch of this inspired partnership and the release of a wine bottle exclusively dressed in Zac.

Kelly put together an intimate girlfriend’s soirée at the whimsical BG restaurant designed by Kelly Wearstler (remember when I stayed at her Malibu mansion?!) overlooking Central Park and the gorgeous Plaza Hotel. Since we are talking about one of the most glamorous gown designers in the world, Kelly dressed us all in Zac Posen bringing such an air of fantasy and delight to the whole gathering.

A silver tiered tray lined in macarons, fresh fruit, meringues and Zac Posen’s own recipe for “My Little Violet Darlings” from the Bergdorf Goodman Cookbook was the center piece to the soirée table. I loved how Kelly brought a formality to the wine by putting it in a silver deco wine bucket on a stand next to the table keeping the Pinot Grigio cool in-between pours.

Why not throw your own soirée – with delicate delights, crisp and bright white wine and look out for the sparkling design of Zac Posen for Ecco Domani to add one last flourishing touch to your own summer parties.

Zac_Posen_Ecco_Domani_003 Zac_Posen_Ecco_Domani_004

Above- Zac Posen’s limited edition bottle design for Ecco Domani’s Pinot Grigio chills in a silver deco ice bucket.

Below- The table dressed with a three tier serving tray, Devonia large and small serving plates with matching hand gilded wine glasses, and Alain St. Joanis flatware. I love surrounding a table and room in fresh flowers, these Diane James arrangements are actually silk and no one knew the difference!

Zac_Posen_Ecco_Domani_005  Zac_Posen_Ecco_domani_029 Continue reading “A Girlfriend’s Soirée”

Portrait of a Lady

Erin_Framel__02

Doing a beauty video for Elle and Clarins had me thinking a lot about French beauty. In particular, how effortless and tasteful they are when it comes to skincare and how you makeup your face for the world to see. Every time I am in Paris I feel so inspired about the celebrated form of beauty French women have. To me, they are the most beautiful women in the world which I like to think goes beyond lucky genetics and has something to do with yummy french beauty products.

Kelly and I wanted to do a shoot for her sister Erin Framel on her birthday to mark this time in her life and celebrate all our collaborations. Many people go into behind the scenes to make a photo-shoot happen and Erin has produced, styled, and even modeled in many of our editorials and commercial shoots as a way to say thanks. With French beauty and one of my favorite fashion photography books, Woman in the Mirror, as inspiration we capture Erin in this timeless moment.

We let Elle & Clarins on set to see how we work and play together and here are the final images from this day of beauty….

Cover images~ Pamella Roland Gown || As29 Earrings

Erin_Framel__03

Continue reading “Portrait of a Lady”

Chantecaille

 

I love Roses.

I love to grow them, receive them, smell like them, and photograph them it’s no wonder the rose is considered the “queen” of essential oils.  You can imagine my excitement when I discovered Chantecaille’s Rose de Mai line of beauty products made extraordinarily with a very special rose gown in Provence, France which blooms only once a year called Rose de Mai and harvested by hand. I love every morning waking up and applying the Rose de Mai cream which feels as if you are rubbing thousands of rose petals on your skin. What is even more special is that the scent is all natural from the actual roses that make up these products and take care of your face with the power of this floral ingredient.

There is something very calming about the smell of roses. When I’m feeling very stressed from a long day of editing and deadlines or after an intense photoshoot, it’s nice to spray Chantecaille’s Pure Rosewater on my skin not only to re-hydrate it but lift my spirits. Rosewater has an interesting history dating back the the Ancient Romans who not only drank Rosewater but bathed in it… obviously I wish I had more Rosewater baths in my life, right?! Aside from just being incredibly luxurious, Rosewater fights depression, insect bites, inflammation, sunburn, and signs of aging. I guess this is as close as we can get to the “fountain of youth”.

Sometimes we are incredibly fortunate enough to get clients we are personally fans of. Last December we were brought into the Chantecaille offices in Soho and briefed on their top secret newest member to their rose collection, Rose de Mai Face Oil, which was just released a few weeks ago. They asked us to come up with an idea, some visuals, on what the Rose de Mai line means to us and how we would visualize Chantecaille into a body of work. You can imagine, I was beside myself- a total dream job! We got to work right away concepting everything from stills, to videos, to cinemagraphs. Later this spring the work we created will be rolled out around the world in Chantecaille’s in-store displays, websitesocial media channels and in press such as WWD.

After the creative was signed off on by every member of the Chantecaille family (this is a family run business) we got to work. First step. Find the perfect roses in the middle of winter which we did through Rose Story Farm and had as many as possible shipped overnight. The studio has never smelled so beautiful! There were roses everywhere, in the windowsill, refrigerator, work table, kitchen counters! Over the course of a three day shoot we made beds of roses, flower crowns, flower hats, flower petal showers, you name it. It was a pure delight.

Of course Chantecaille does more that skincare, they also have an amazing line of makeup made most famously by Angelina Jolie when she reapplied their lipgloss not knowingly on camera at the Golden Globes. So I was VERY interested in hanging out at the makeup station for our shoot to pick up any tips / tricks from Chantecaille’s in house makeup artist Eddie Hernandez. My favorite things: their mascara smells like roses (DONE) and this is my FAVORITE makeup tool now.

Here are some of our favorite moments from this very personal collaboration with Chantecaille~

Chantecaille__01

Above~ Red Audra Dress

Below~ Chantecaille’s new Rose de Mai Face OilChantecaille__02

[videojs mp4=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/roseoil.m4v” webm=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/roseoil.webm” poster=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/roseoil.jpg” autoplay=”true” width=”614″ height=”900″ loop=”true” controls=”false”]

Chantecaille__03

Above & Cover~ White Audra Top

Below~ Red Audra Dress

[videojs mp4=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/reddress.m4v” webm=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/reddress.webm” autoplay=”true” width=”615″ height=”520″ loop=”true” controls=”false”]

Below~ Delphine Manivet Dress

Chantecaille__04 Chantecaille__05

Above~ Marchesa Top

Below~ Chantecaille Rose de Mai Cream

Chantecaille__06 Chantecaille__07

Above~ Katie Ermilio Bandeau

Below~ Elie Saab Dress

[videojs mp4=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/flowerhat.m4v” webm=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/flowerhat.webm” autoplay=”true” width=”615″ height=”520″ loop=”true” controls=”false”]

Chantecaille__08     Chantecaille__13

Above & Cover~ White Audra Top

Below~ Delphine Manivet Dress

rain615

Chantecaille__21Chantecaille__14

Above~ Misha Nonoo Jumpsuit

Below~ Chantecaille Pure Rosewater

Chantecaille__15 Chantecaille__16 Chantecaille__17

Above~ Marchesa Top

Below~ Delphine Manivet Dress

Chantecaille__18 Chantecaille__10

Below~ Misha Nonoo Jumpsuit

[videojs mp4=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/roses.m4v” webm=”http://annstreetstudio.com/video/chantecaille/roses.webm autoplay=”true” width=”615″ height=”520″ loop=”true” controls=”false”]

Chantecaille__19

Chantecaille Rose de Mai ||Modeled by Teresa Dilger of Silent Models || Makeup by Eddie Hernandez of Chantecaille || Hair by Fred Van de Bunt from Art Department || Styling by Kelly Framel & Erin Framel of the Glamourai || Manicurist Angel Williams || Flower Artist Tammy Becker

Happy Holidays

Holiday_Party_cover00How lucky are we that we get to work with our best friends? My friendship with Kelly began 3 years ago on a shoot in Malibu where we shot all day, and dreamed all night. Fast forward to now, another year in our friendship. We shared a house in Amagansett, she threw me the best birthday party of all, we collaborated on shoots from CHANEL to golden goddesses, cool kids to Victoria Secret models. Before we each go home to our real families Kelly and I had a Holiday Party here at the studio for our little New York family, the ones that buy you a drink after a hard day or make you laugh when work is stressful or keep you inspired though all forms of collaboration… and the occasional selfie.

Of course we had to go big and by go big we mean we decked the entire party out in Ralph Lauren from the table tops to the shoes! …so it was basically my dream party. Zach, Kelly’s boyfriend (who just opened a new restaurant in Manhattan!) made the most beautiful dinner of Coq au Vin (recipe HERE!) while Kevin welcomed our guests with a Suburban cocktail (see his story & recipe below!).

Kelly took care of the table with a focus on personal touches, my favorite being the way she did the place settings by using a small silver frame and having me print photos that I have taken of us through the years (which was super easy using THIS), as a way to mark each person’s seat at the table. I loved this touch. I thought it really represented our friendship and collaboration and was an amazing way for everyone to re-tell the story behind the image.

While she sat the table I thought it would be fun to put the photo studio in use even for a dinner party! I threw up a gray seamless and put some warm gels over a couple of kino flo lights and had the camera ready to go to take portraits of each other, to remember this time in our lives together, and this holiday season. As the night progressed the portrait studio turned into a candid riot of laughter and dancing and all out friendship silliness. I cherish this night, these real moments of laugher and wine, photography and art- all the passions that brought us together in the first place.

So here’s to the holiday season. I hope you find some inspiration in our intimate Ralph Lauren inspired dinner party for your own this December and remember to be with the ones that you love….

 Holiday_Party_03 Holiday_Party_04

Kelly has a method to her table-setting-madness! See here entertaining tips here

Holiday_Party_05Holiday_Party_06

Above~ keeping it classic in a Ralph Lauren Collection Cashmere Chunky Knit Turtleneck (I order a size up to make it extra cozy), Collection Pencil Skirt and Suede Blamina Sandal

Continue reading “Happy Holidays”

Ecco Domani’s Spring Fling

EccoDomani_Spring_02 Last fall we had the pleasure of shooting the new packaging and in-store displays for the contemporary Italian Wine Ecco Domani at our studio here in New York. Just because it was a photoshoot and not an actual event taking place – in this case, a book-club party with a group of girlfriends at home – doesn’t mean the food shouldn’t be a great pairing for the wine!

My friend Molly who is an amazing food stylist (remember this series we did together?) created a few spring-time inspired grilled flat bread recipes for our shoot that were DELICIOUS with the crisp Pinot Grigio wine (after we wrapped, we enjoyed some ourselves!). I love Molly’s recipes, they are so fresh and seasonal. This past December she created two special wine cocktail drink recipes for our Ann Street Studio Holiday Party with Ecco Domani’s Pinot Grigio and Merlot. It’s very important to the global wine brand “to produce wines that are fruit forward and food friendly” so the pairings had to work in real life just as in our book club photoshoot.

I’ve really been enjoying the relationship with Ecco Domani this past year, a brand that also thinks about tomorrow not only in their wine but in the world around us. They do a lot in the fashion industry with the Ecco Domani Fashion Fund to help young emerging designers create their collections and present them to the world.  So many of the past EDFF winners have gone on to shape the fashion industry and be a driving force in our culture such as Alexander Wang, Prabal Gurung, and Rodarte to name a few!

It’s been an amazing experience finding a balance between being creative and getting the shot the client needs for their messaging and display / box dimensions. And of course, it is always a joy and pleasure to get to work with your friends, the people you have a creative conversation with so seamlessly that it makes work feel like play. For this shoot we collaborated with food stylist Molly Shuster, stylist Erin Framel, and hair and makeup artist Ana Sicat. So perhaps you’ll be inspired to have some friends over on a Saturday afternoon, talk about what you’re reading, have some wine and try out Molly’s recipe, sounds like a perfect way to spend an afternoon to me….

PS-This light, floral, citrus-y and crisp top selling wine is also very easy to find in your local wine shop or Italian restaurant, and now when you see the advertising and packaging you know who shot it! Xx

EccoDomani_Spring_03 EccoDomani_Spring_04 EccoDomani_Spring_05 EccoDomani_Spring_06

Continue reading “Ecco Domani’s Spring Fling”