Red, white... and the blues: Fashion shoot for Kee magazine: Menswear

Givenchy shirt, Ermenegildo Zegna tie, Balenciaga shorts, Kim Kiroic shoes | all from Lane Crawford

Inspired by the colours of the Japanese flag, for this menswear shoot, we handpicked wardrobe and accessories in shades of red and white, while we felt blue. 

Like the rest of the world, the earthquake and Tsunami that hit Japan early March was a horrifying vision that united the world, shell-shocked viewers of such personal and national calamity. What can we do to help? The creative team assembled for this shoot to take part of this special edition of KEE, doing our own little bit to voice our concern and support for a beleaguered nation. Bake sales, we don’t do! This story was born of tragedy, and yet, hope springs eternal.


Photographer: Douglas Pieterse
Art Director and Producer: P. Ramakrishnan
Stylist: Reema Khanna
Hair and Make-up, tattoo art: Karen Yiu
Model: David Oshry from Models International
Location courtesy: TREE at Horizon Plaza, special thanks to Ms Anna Mugglestone.


Below shots are NOT the final images - only for reference and credit!

Pants by Roberto Cavalli from The Swank, VOID white leather-strap watch, Tattoo art by Karen Yiu.

Striped shirt and pants by Comme De Garcons from Lane Crawford, gram shoes, Bothos bag,



Pen by St Dupont, pants by Brooks Brothers, Bruuns Bazaar shirt from Harvey Nichols, Balmain scarf from The Swank, gram shoes, bag by Gucci.



Pants and sweater from Brooks Brothers, white linen shirt by Ermenegildo Zegna, bag and white pants by Gucci, shoes are model’s own.




Jacket by Versace and pants by Gucci.



Kitson pants from The Swank, Trussardi shoes from Lane Crawford, VOID watch.





Original Fake shirt from Lane Crawford, Balmain Jeans from The Swank and VOID watch.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Aliya with a Z: Behind the scenes of a shoot for Style magazine: Olaf Mueller, Aliya Zaidi, Karen Yiu. Dream team

Coming soon... 

Perhaps the only good thing to come out of the trauma of the now-defunct Prive Asia, an implosion predicted by few, seen by many, was that I got to meet the bril Aliya Zaidi. 

Was thrilled when a leading fashion mag asked me to write a feature and do a shoot with her. Frantic calls were made, got together with my bud Olaf Mueller (who does all my cover shoots) and his team, the awesomeness that is Karen Yiu, and my kiddo Angie U to help out. 

Then, got on phone with some serious diamond peeps - Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpel and Graff - and wardrobe from Versace, Lane Crawford, Armani for a day-long shoot. Threw in some clothes from Aliya's own wardrobe too. 

Results to appear in a special issue of the magazine.  

The Making Of a Post magazine Fashion Shoot: Lights, Camera, Reaction! Matters of the Art

Throwback to the first shoot for Post magazine's fashion pages. As the widely distributed weekend magazine that accompanies The South China Morning Post, there is no other English publication in Hong Kong to compete with their weekend edition distribution numbers. 

More nervous for Reema than myself, her first day back at work and as a stylist, after years of martial bliss and two kids ended up being painless and really fun - she says so herself!

Weeks of planning, endless emails, delivery fiascos, location snafus (thank God for... oh wait, atheist Kate, thank the cosmos for Kate Bryan at Cat Street Gallery/The Space!) and last minute cancellations, it's never as easy as aim, click, done.

BUT, with an able team, 'twas all good.

It was brilliant to work with the very cool, calm and collected photographer James Gabbard. He did my first ever cover at Sentinel when it was at its earliest stages. He did such an amazing job, his name topped a post-it on 'must work with again' list. But after the initial few months, the budgets at the old office kept shrinking with every issue, until all shoots were done at some undisclosed location with clothes with the brand-names on its sleeve, un-retouched images (and no, not in the cool retro-chic way, more of a 'we have no dollars or sense' sorta way). Ugh.

This is the only shoot I've ever worked on where I was a bit snappy, but we had a tight deadline (there were other events being held at the very busy gallery!) and being an over-caffeinated monkey, there was little time for pleasantries. Delivery guys dropping accessories to the neighbours, a dozen art students landing for a tour of the location of the shoot (pfft children!), model getting stuck in Hong Kong's ever-increasingly heinous traffic and to top it all, Karen Yiu wasn't there! Make-up artist and friend, she was multi-booked and wasn't on location which always makes me nervous. Apart from being one of the best in biz on the planet, she's a zen-like influence as she's done 90 per cent of ALL my shoots and knows the rhythm and flow of a shoot. Bless her socks, she did do hair and makeup at her studio and of course, it was perfection.

On the plus side, shoot ran smooth as butter once it kicked off, we finished earlier than expected, the final shots are phenomenal, the art and the sculptures at The Space (and Cat Street) just enhanced the overall look of the shoot - way beyond the mental brief I had on what this would/should/could look like.

Gabbard's dedication to getting the perfect shot was only met with David's single-minded focus on holding the position until he got the shot. The staff at the gallery are getting buckets of goodwill and positive thoughts ushered to them (if I had the dosh, I'd be sending 'em all flowers and champagne) as they were kind and helpful beyond belief.

Reem and I didn't fight or argue once (yeah we might be growing up at long last!), was far more organised than I am at a shoot, there were notes and images refs and entire looks laid out and looks tried on the night before on a test model and what not. It was also great to see how enthusiastic she was on the shoot 'cause at this stage, I'm sure I'm a little jaded. But I swear I can fake enthusiasm with the best of 'em,

Its about 'post' impressions after all.

Photography James Gabbard
Styling Reema Khanna
Art Direction P.Ramakrishnan
Hair and Make-up Karen Yiu
Model: David O at Models International
Location: The Space, Cat Street Gallery

The Making Of.... Heaven's 8: A look at how eight of the fittest people in Hong Kong maintain their hot bods.

Sexy Summer Bodies, how they got them and how they keep them.

Hong Kong's fittest and healthiest bodies reveal how they get in swimsuit-ready shape after a calorific winter. From kick-boxing to dance, professional sports to pilates, they prove that in pursuit of the flattest abdominals, you can't do nominal work.

Photography: Olaf Mueller
Art direction and styling: P.Ramakrishnan
All men's watches and underwear by Calvin Klein. 

Other wardrobe, models' own.




The Making of...

Photographer Olaf Mueller is featured in the shots - his original work is published in Style magazine. 

Some of the eight men and women from the list, including Nicolas (who literally went head over heels for this shoot), Kate, Icy Lee (who made the incredible body shapes at her Yogasala studio), Jonny (rugby player and... fitness machine!).

I took these snaps on my canon - thankfully, the pro shots are much, muuuuuuuuuch better. Francesca's missing from the pics as during the shoot, I was the person she was throwing the netball at. Kindly note I don't mention catching the ball. Anyhoo, bodies and babes in HK below!