Hello My Friends,

Today I would like to share with you my first project as a creative director. When I started I had no idea what the project should look like, but I approached it the way I approach my art. I felt what I needed to do come intuitively and gradually from within.

I was already a professional makeup artist and hairstylist. I had acquired a lot of customers. So I though to myself, “What’s next? What more can I do?” Next and more is to keep creating, to do whatever feels natural. So I
started thinking of creating a team. And it was so hard because there were so many talented people, each with so many exciting but different ideas, and all with different schedules. I told everyone who would be involved in this project that they could do whatever they felt was right. I entrusted them with the kind of creative freedom that I need to have when I am working.

As a result, I got so many suggestions, but, I must admit, it difficult for me to share with others verbally what I was feeling on the inside.

We started from scratch. First, we started looking for the right clothes. If you know me, you know that I like things to be unique. One of the garments was made of paper - the girls had created this look - and another outfit was made of some unusual material as well. The other clothes were given to me by one designer. She was certain that these clothes were exactly what I needed to complete the look. And I think she was right.

The preparation took longer than we anticipated. I would put something together, but then change my mind again and again. I made alterations, adjustments, modifications… But finally I decided we had to just go with a look otherwise we would never finish.

 

For the shoot, I managed to book some castle, but when we got there we were surprised that after reconstruction this placed looked very different than I had expected. Since it would be difficult to rent it out again in the future, I had to decide on the spot how to style my models according to this location. I chose very natural makeup in order to accent the historical-look of the garments and the site.

Everyone had his and her heart invested in this project. Fortunately, a lot of my friends were there, especially photographer Alena Soboleva who always works fast and well. I know it was hard but we did it. We did, what we could.

Well… today nobody can tell with certainty if it was our own imagination or if it was actually happening, but it definitely gave us that special mood and created that authentic magical atmosphere and these very different but all very strong characters

 

Here is Backstage video:

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 Nina Mua