Monday 14 January 2013

After a breakfast of runny oatmeal and power smoothies, we start day two of shooting. My heart is set on including a traditional pagoda in the story – the most beautiful one, covered in gold leaf, is in a park next to the Nan Lian monastery. It’s open to the public but professional photography is frowned upon so we devise a complicated charade to get the shot. James and I pretend to be tourists with me ‘posing’ for James in the foreground, while Miao goes off with Kevin, the production assistant, and pretends to pose for him in the distance. We feel like spies shooting undercover surveillance footage. Finally James proclaims, “We have it.”

Next, I decide a push-bike is essential and set Cordelia the task of finding one. It has to be old-fashioned and a bit beaten up. I imagine Miao whizzing down the street on it, in the Gucci chrysanthemum-print ensemble, with her pink-streaked hair flying behind her. Nothing Cordelia finds is quite right, until walking back to the van she spots a bike propped up against some railings. It’s perfect! The only small problem is that we can’t find an owner so Cordelia covertly wheels it around the corner for Miao to ride. Then we realise it’s not just been left for an hour, it’s been abandoned. The wheels don’t move so my dream action shot has to be shelved, but with James crouched down in the gutter and Miao swishing her hair, there is a brilliant energy to the shot.

At last we reach our final shot: neon lights at night. Jetlag has kicked in and we are all slightly dazed but Miao takes the initiative and leads us up onto the Mid-Levels Escalator – an 800-metre, 20-minute journey rising up through the city. Looking down over the neon lights of Wellington Street, Miao finds the perfect place to pose. She’s wearing a sherbet lemon-coloured Christopher Kane dress and while most commuters on their way home push past us, some stop and stare and others even insist on taking their own pictures.

Finishing the shot – our last of the shoot – we all grin at each other before a round of hugs and whoops of joy. We dump the kit back at the hotel and after a quick change are all due a celebratory drink, or several...

Every night Hong Kong puts on a light display over the city and Sevva, on the top of a skyscraper in central Hong Kong is the perfect bar to watch the lights and start our wrap party… which quickly descends into a tequila-shot slamming bar-crawl.

Jet-lagged, tired and hungover, we disperse around the world and head back to reality. With two months until the autumn/winter 2013/2014 catwalk shows it’s almost time to start planning our September fashion issue. I’m thinking Greenland, Bhutan, the Congo...

Memoirs of a Stylist