Author: Stephanie F.

Burberry show – front seat

Posted on by Stephanie F.

I’m not (yet) on any list, I don’t (yet) get the fancy invitations made of amazing materials & colors, I’m not (yet) in London and so, sadly, I couldn’t attend the Fashion shows during London Fashion Week.

Today though, I was sitting at the front seat at Burberry’s. Watching it being streamed live, I felt like I was part of the buzz. And with the comments from others, I also felt as if I was sitting next to ‘the girls’ fawning all over the new collection. Well that was fun.

Well, of course, it’s not the same. But after seeing a week worth of Tweets about this show and that, it was getting depressing! And that’s not counting New York fashion week the week before, and Milan coming next.

About the collection itself? Very nice, as usual. It seems Burberry keeps on reinventing their trench, it’s their signature item (together with the checkered pattern) but somehow they always find ways to make it exciting again each year. I love their colored clutches (lime green, cyan…). Not too fond of the silver leggings. And yeah, couldn’t miss the biker jacket in all it’s shapes, fabric, colors…
The added bonus being that you can now order coats and bags from the runway… Well you can try, it might already be sold out by now.

The sun did shine today, and it suddenly felt like summer again. Watching the SS11 collection was inspiring. But I’d like the temperature to drop now because I’m really looking forward to wear my Burberry shearling aviator jacket!

Hexad

Posted on by Stephanie F.
MUA Daisy Vermandel & Obskur.
Models from left to right  Elvire, Inge, Maria, Caroline, Lynn & Sabina

Hexad. The 6. Women, mythologie & symbols have given shape to this serie, together with countless hours to determine the personnaes, the clothing, the location, the models and so many more hours to coordinate it all.

Two shoots were planned, and the weather couldn’t have been more opposite. For the first, the temperature went over the 30° while the rain threatened to pour on the second! I suffered bug bites on the first (note to self, no shorts when going in the wild), on the second I drenched my jeans and shoes to shoot Lynn in the pond (thank you Lynn for going in first)… I had fun with old friends and enjoyed the company of new ones…

I really enjoyed taking these, so enjoy watching them!

  
  
  
  
Thank you Daisy, Elvire, Inge, Maria, Obskur MUA, Caroline, Lynn, Sabina & Erna. 

Let her eat cake!

Posted on by Stephanie F.

I noticed that lack of sleep usually puts me either in a lethargic state, or in a crazy adrenaline driven mode. Unfortunately, I can’t tell when which will happen so it’s down to luck really.
Thursday was one of those insanely busy yet brilliant days. And good for me, adrenaline driven.

There was the early wake-up call, the mad dash for the cake (over cobbled roads), the preservation of said cake (we’ve had a terrible weather so far but Thursday the sun decided to shine so I spent the drive back with the air co turned up to the max)… 
And then the shoot. Great fun girls! Sanne did a wonderful job on the make-up and styling and Floriane was so enthusiastic about munching on the cake I thought she hadn’t eaten for days.

And of course, thank you Petit Gateau for this masterwork!
Here are my two favorite images from the shoot, more will follow on www.stephaniefraikin.com.
 

Petit Gateau

Posted on by Stephanie F.

Do you remember I was looking for a cake-artist the other day? Well, I found it!
I’ll be working together with Petit Gateau: an Antwerp based company specialized in all sorts of cakes (weddings, birthdays…).
They do an amazing work!
Why would you go to a (boring) local baker when you can have these for an afternoon High Tea?

So thanks to this collaboration, and if all goes well and the cake survives the car trip: the shoot will take place on Thursday with Floriane as model & Sanne de Wolf as MUA.
Keep posted, I’ll show the final image here in a few days…

Petit Gateau:  http://www.petitgateau.be/
Sanne de Wolf: http://www.sdw-stylingandmodeling.be/

Foodprint publication

Posted on by Stephanie F.

This Belgian publication (Foodprint) gives an overview of all food related topics and showcases a selection of Belgian top photographers.
For last year’s edition, I invited Ellen for a night-time picnic, where as a Russian princess she indulged, with a bit of guilt, in a few precious strawberries.

This year, I have something else in mind.
Keep an eye on all channels, by the end of next week I should be able to show you something: it’s gonna be finger licking good.

More about Foodprint: http://www.foodprint.be

It’s all about the details

Posted on by Stephanie F.

London, day 2.

The charms of the english country side in the city? On Sloane Street? Hackett, of course.
My boyfriend, Thomas, is a huge fan of this extremely british brand (men only) and what can I say, he has great taste! When we got to the Hackett shop, we raised some eyebrows… I guess it was partly due to the fact that unlike most couples, I’m not the one selecting the clothes.
That and the fact that we’re both very attentive to details which made the shop attendant curious (he thought we were designers or merchants, checking Hackett out… Maybe we should be mystery shoppers?).
The only shame about it though, is that just like other brands, their ‘slim fit’ shirts aren’t really slim… As we already knew, American brands (Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren…) don’t do slim fits. So why not, Hackett? After all, you provide for the rowing team, aren’t they eager to wear slim fits?

I’ll spare you the details of the afternoon, we visited more shops, and more shops… Ah, London!

As we had reservation for Bentley’s at 8, we thought about getting a quick aperitif before hand. I had found Dirty Martini online and it seemed like a good moment to try it out. Well, it didn’t work as planned: I guess the happy hour combined with a table of 8 ordering cocktails didn’t help us, but soon, it was 5 to 8 and we had to rush, without martini’s! So sorry about that, Dirty Martini, we’ll come back.

Bentley’s was once again, a perfect experience. We love to sit at the bar, watch the waiters fight the oysters… The food was delicious: grilled squid with hummous and of course lobster linguini. We finished off with a shared dessert, lemon curd-like mixture with rasperry and shortbread: amazing!

But more disappointment followed from the Gaucho, not allowing us to have drinks on their terrace anymore (but we could stay seated if we wanted to?).
For a friday evening, London was quick to go to bed… we followed and retired to our room in the St Martin’s lane, happy and exhausted

On a side note, I’m nicely surprised by how friendly all shop attendants are in London. They help you with a smile, they ask about you, where you come from, they give you a personalized card so you can contact them regarding your purchase… It never happens in Belgium. In most case, you feel like you’re lucky to be allowed in the shop. Beware shop attendants, if I’m not feeling welcome, I won’t give you my money. There.

The A/W 2010 jacket

Posted on by Stephanie F.

London, day 1.

Since end of July, I have been drooling all over any ad, catwalk photo or edit featuring this amazing shearling aviator jacket by Burberry Prorsum.
So when we got to London, one of the first things we did was checking out all Burberry stores in the center (Regent Street, Bond Street): no luck.

Then we headed to Liberty’s where I try on a nice Rick Owens jacket and a terrible Acne version of the Shearling aviator jacket, it’s not looking good, it’s big, it’s shapeless… But I secretly hope that ‘the one’ will be different.

Since the jacket I’m looking for sold out on net-a-porter in a few days,  I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw it hanging in the Burberry store in Selfridges!

I’m afraid to try it on, and I’m right to be: it fits like a glove and it looks awesome (the over-sized collar is wow, the materials are gorgeous and the model is cinched at the waist making the aviator jacket more feminine than ever). Last one in my size in the whole of England, oh my. All I need is the “Just get it” from my approving boyfriend’s lips and I do. 

I remember Coraline (the friendly french girl at Burberry’s) saying something like “You can bring it back in the 14 days if you change your mind” and the boyfriend thinking “oh, no, not gonna happen”.

This jacket is mine!
Waiting for the temperature to drop under 15°C, surely, it’s ok to wear shearling then.

The IT(able) bag

Posted on by Stephanie F.

Having completed my previous personal project (it’s a secret for now, but I will tell you more in September), I’ve started brainstorming about the next. I have an image in my mind but in order to make it, I need a cake artist (is that how you call them?).

Basically, a cook, a baker with a creative itch who could make me a cake shaped like… a fashionable handbag! The complete picture (with fashionable model) will be published in a book about food so exposure for the artist is sure to follow.

It doesn’t necessarily need to be pink, but it does need to be real size. If you know a “cake artist”, don’t hesitate to contact me via www.stephaniefraikin.com

Hedgren – This bag is mine

Posted on by Stephanie F.

For this assignment, the aim was to create a special serie of images for the back to school collection of Hedgren. We planned the shoot in June, thinking the weather to be mild: it was freezing!
Despite the cold, I loved the atmosphere, the enthusiasm of the models (Lynn and Ellen) and the constant bouncing on/off ideas with Gunther, AD for Hedgren and former colleague.

As the two girls started fighting for the bags, the concept of the shoot came to life: This bag is mine.

MUA Sanne de Wolf
Models Lynn Vandenbroeck, Ellen Deckx

Hedgren bags and travelgear http://www.hedgren.com
Make-up artist Sanne de Wolf http://www.sdw-stylingandmodeling.be/

Eté des portraits – Bourbon-Lancy

Posted on by Stephanie F.

L’été des portraits is a great initiative. For the whole summer, more than 1500 photographic portraits are being displayed in the streets and buildings of a small french town: Bourbon-Lancy.

I have selected these 3 portraits this year. It was not an easy choice, especially when combining images that are not originally part of a serie. The ballerina is one of my favourite images of last year and the two others complement perfectly its ethereal aspect.

MUA Daisy Vermandel
Models Kathleen, Nini, Puck

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, make a small detour, it’s worth it!
Eté des portraits