Faces of the Future: Part 2

Welcome to my part 2 blog post on faces of the future. There is such diversity of model talent in London and every season, the top influencers of the industry tend to gravitate towards a couple of girls, otherwise known as the 'breakthrough girls'- excelling and dominating everything, from major campaigns & editorials to catwalk.

Betty Adewole, a perfect example of a recent breakthrough girl -whom I met at a casting last year- is now shooting regularly for Tom Ford, walking for Givenchy and was recently featured as the 'it' model in Sunday Times Style Magazine. She's down to earth, switched on and a total knockout on camera; pulling off anything from super sexy beachwear to Shoreditch tomboy, the latter of which best reflects her personal style.

Yulia Musieichuk @ Select

Yulia is destined for great things, wholly dominating the pages of every major high fashion magazine both in London and internationally at this moment. Yulia possesses the perfect balance of chameleon-esque genes whilst retaining her distinctive appeal. She is literally on the cusp of breakthrough, having celebrated her first major campaign for J.W Anderson this season. 

Sofia Rivolta @ IMG

Sofia encapsulates the definition of raw beauty, the makeup free image above showcasing her undeniable potential. She appears to be super new to IMG London (only a couple of images on the website) but I anticipate she will be promoted up to mainboard at an above average speed. Her mother agency is in Milan. 

Karol Santos @ Next

Karol is a beautiful Brazillian model represented by Next Model Management; a razor sharp beauty with a promising future ahead of her. She's equally strong in both editorial and commercial and totally unforgettable once you've met her. 

Would love to hear your thoughts, who's your favourite girl?

Alice Luker
www.aliceluker.co.uk

Models of the Future: Part 1

When casting a model there are are considerable number of qualities to consider. Facial features (cheekbones, eyes, uniqueness etc), body proportions, confidence & ability, in addition to potential longevity in the industry. These elements may be easier said than done yet finding the strongest girl is fundamental to the level of success in a shoot. 

An editorial model -in a high end publication such as Vogue Italia- must be tall, unique and truly encapsulate that 'je ne sais quois' on camera. Confidence can develop with experience in regards to super fresh faces but looks wise, one in a million doesn't sound all too farfetched. Recent graduates of the breakthrough model clan include Liverpudlian Holly May Saker (below left), Holly Rose and Sam Rollinson (below right). 

I've recently been researching the next generation of model talent for an upcoming project, endlessly browsing sites including those of top London agencies including Elite, Models 1, Select, Next and IMG. I have found whom I believe to be a selection of serious breakthrough potential and would like to share my discoveries with you. 

Holly Lake @ Select

A prominent face in the 'sneak preview' section of Select Model Management's website, this girl has potential to be a real contender of fashion weeks in the future. Although she looks very young- which of course she is, I'm guessing 14/15- there is undeniable raw potential which I can envision flourishing over the next couple of years. Holly's sculpted cheekbones and piercing eyes, softened by rounded lips and quirky, editorial ears are promising features for success. 

There are only a couple of images on her profile but from what I can see, her versatility is already discernible- I would love to see her in the future with bleach blonde or jet black hair, she has the bone structure pull off almost anything.

Tia Shannon @ Models 1

I was first introduced to Tia Shannon by delightful booker Georgia Case, her femme fetale/Eva Green characteristics catching my eye as one of the leading new faces at Models 1. She is currently 5"8, with a couple more years to grow which will hopefully allow her to walk the main shows at fashion week. Models ideally need to be (aside from prime examples of Cara Delevigne, Kate Moss et al) 5"10 and over for high end catwalk. 

She has perfect slender proportions complimenting her look and an alluring confidence in front of the lens. Her face is both current and timeless, an ideal combination of model potential. 

Marli @ Premier

At 5"11, Marli is a strong competitor for both catwalk & editorial. She has beautiful eyes, looks great from all angles and is adorned with a cluster of freckles on her cheek to complete her 90s supermodel, Cindy Crawford-esque vibe.

Christina Gorbatyuk @ World Fashion Models, Russia

I would love to see Christina represented in London. She has a great look that the British fashion scene would fall head over their Louboutin heels for, with an editorial intensity and a slight 'English Rose' aesthetic; bitter sweet and totally mesmerising. 

What do you think? I would love to hear suggestions of girls you believe have serious breakthrough potential.  

Alice Luker
www.aliceluker.co.uk

Setting the Mood: The Secret Behind Moodboards

As a photographer and creative director of most of my shoots I'm often involved in developing moodboards; a presentation of visuals and text to reflect the concept/ aesthetic of a brief. This stage is so important, not only for production value (proposing to publications, model agencies etc) but also to share full mutual understanding of the concept with the team.

It is advantageous as a fashion photographer to attain a level of knowledge in all aspects of fashion- most importantly styling, makeup and casting models. Luckily for me, I attended various short courses at LCF in makeup, styling and the history/evolution of fashion which have been beneficial when communicating and translating ideas with the creative team. I would never refer to myself a makeup artist or stylist based on this experience but dexterity of knowledge within the fashion industry is key.

Moodboards need to be in depth, clear and concise. I'm rarely fond of a single page moodboard as I feel its important to spread the layout over a couple of pages, enriched with visual references and accompanied by short, pertinent sentences. I'm fond of Microsoft Powerpoint or the equivalent 'Keynote' with my new Macbook Pro. Both programmes are simple and professional, containing all the necessary actions to create the perfect board.

I separate each creative component into individual pages; concept, styling, hair & makeup, lighting/ art direction, poses and models. If its a major editorial shoot or brand campaign, I will often devise a shoot plan in a similar style to the moodboard too, with each page hosting 2 shot ideas with visuals to elaborate. An example page from an editorial shoot plan is below.

Key benefits of allocating a full page per creative focus come into action on the shoot day. They are flexible to physically move back and fourth from prep room to shoot location; allowing the team to stay on point and are ideal to incorporate additional annotations if required- a black sharpie pen is perfect for this.

Most of my moodboards begin with a title page. Sometimes if I feel it's strong enough, I will include a title suggestion for an editorial, or if a S/S brand campaign for example I will simply call it ' (brand name) S/S Campaign'.

The moodboard images featured below are from my editorial shoot 'The Third Degree' for Stylenoir Magazine. I haven't included the page describing the concept (which would be featured directly after the title in a PDF presentation) or the page suggesting specific models.

If I had skills in illustration I would avoid using other photographer's imagery where possible, especially in the shoot plan. Film still references are great to broaden the horizon of inspiration in addition to face charts created exclusively by the MUA for the shoot.

Useful websites for Moodboards

Pinterest- Visuals

Pinterest is fantastic at the pre-moodboard stage- collecting a vast range of imagery relevant to each shoot brief. I'm often a little frivolous at this stage, pinning all images that may reflect the aesthetic/ mood (without too much thought) to be filtered down during the next stage; sub-conscious pinning as it were. You can also invite others to pin to any selected board and create a number of secret boards only be viewed by yourself and those invited. I'm an avid nocturnal pinner...

Style.com- Styling

Style.com contains a filtered selection of catwalk shows/lookbooks during fashion week season, ideal for Pinterest boards. I create 4 boards every season on Pinterest featuring my personal highlights from Milan, New York, Paris and London Fashion Week which are useful when putting boards together. I may even take it a step further and create a trend based sub board from the season as a whole, titled 'futuristic' or 'metallic' for example.

Models.com- Models

To stay in the loop of the current circuit of models, models.com contains all top agency packages from major fashion weeks in addition to top newcomer faces. I have folders on my Macbook and save the model's cards that particularly stand out for future reference.

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I hope this has been helpful, happy moodboarding!

Alice Luker
www.aliceluker.co.uk