Obsessed with Diana (Vreeland that is).

Diana Vreeland spoke the best lines. “You gotta have style,” she once said, “It helps you get down the stairs. It helps you get up in the morning. It’s a way of life. Without it, you’re nobody. I’m not talking about lots of clothes.”

Vreeland, herself, embodied this notion of making oneself fabulous. While not particularly pretty nor comfortable about her looks, Vreeland, whose own mother cruelly called her an ugly duckling, and perhaps fueled by this horrific treatment, morphed into the most stylish woman of her time — of all time.

Her tenures helming both Harper’s Bazaar (1936–1962) and Vogue (1963–1971) set the table for defining fashion’s zeitgeist. Diana found beauty in the unexpected and pushed her agenda: Be anything but boring! Possess some pizzazz! She worked with and pushed photographers like Richard Avedon and with unlikely models like Edie Sedgwick, Penelope, and Lauren Hutton.

Taking a page from Diana’s ethos, Genlux believes in giving a platform to passionate up-and-coming photographers, stylists, models, makeup artists, hairstylists, designers, and actors — particularly those with flair.

(l-r) Daniella Pineda, photographer Robert Steinken, and lighting director Robert Morris, check photos on the monitor

Take talented hairstylist Robert Steinken (shown above with actress Daniella Pineda and lighting director Robert Morris). With ample parts passion and pizzazz, he heeded Diana’s call and reinvented himself as a photographer, and a good one at that. His superb photos of our Genlux cover model and actress Daniella Pineda and models Leanna Burgos and Milena Ilina — thanks in large part to the girls’ sense of adventurousness — are anything but boring.

I also had the chance to bring on first-time Genlux shooters in Marina Ray, Ron Beaver, and Patrick Curtet. Marina’s in-your-face shots of gap-toothed beauty Amy B. are thought-provokingly beautiful; meanwhile, Ron’s stunning jewelry-focused images bring us back to a time in fashion photography when famed beauty photographers like Irving Penn and Hiro truly understood their craft and the nuances of lighting.

Dare I leave out model-turned-fashion photographer Holly Parker. The New York-based shooter invariably brings brilliant location stories to Genlux and brings us two shining examples in the latest issue.

“There’s only one very good life,” Vreeland said, “and that’s the life you know you want and you make it yourself.” Are you ready to reinvent yourself?

one of my favorite genlux covers

Was this one. As much for how beautiful it is as for who is on the cover—Estella Warren. She's one of the 15 or so models who have been the face of CHANEL No. 5. In 1998 Estella appeared in this commercial that, next to the CHANEL Egoiste commercial, I've probably viewed 1000 times. So it was exciting for me to work with her on our GENLUX cover with photographer Robert Deutschmann. 

Here's the GENLUX cover. 

model casting 101

I was art directing a shoot for a brand campaign last week and maybe it's this Mercury in retrograde thing, but we had one heck of a time casting models. After seeing about a hundred girls, we settled on twelve for the shoot. Then, craziness ensued. One model confirmed but cancelled the day before the shoot. Then, one of the guy models—no lie— was confirmed but was arrested the night before the shoot and was in jail. When I asked his agent what was going to happen, she said his parents had hired a top lawyer to get him out—to her surprise, because she's always thought he'd been raised by wolves. 
One agency sent a model to the casting knowing what the rate was and what all of the usages (meaning where the photos would appear). We loved the model and decided to book her. But then, the agent said the amount being paid wasn't enough. WAIT! I told you before you'd sent the model in how much we were paying and what the usage was, right? Ugh! So now, because we actually WANT the model, the rate needs to be higher? The sad part is the model was told that the shoot was cancelled—not that the rate was $2000 for four hours work. 
After looking at models from all LA agencies, there was one 'type' that we still hadn't booked. And it was the day before the shoot. On a nearly blind (we only saw her instagram) pick, we booked a girl that had never modeled before. (Yes, we were rolling the dice on this one). Right now, the girl works at Ulta. All I can say is, not for long. (Photos to prove it soon)

brilliant logo

I love a good logo design that's unique, thoughtful, maintains strong design principles and cleverly hints at the company's essence. When checking out Chris Botti's schedule at Blue Note jazz club in New York—where he's been the resident artist for the past 16 years—I came upon this cool logo for Blue Note records. When one thinks of jazz, the era of Coltrane, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, and Stan Getz come to mind. This logo in two simple shapes, along with the type of that time, embodies a jazz essence. I love it. Couple this with the genius website: bluenote.com and Bravo! to the designer of this mark.