On May 19th, 2016, I woke up with a positive spirit and prayed that nothing would go wrong and also that no surprises would pop up from angles out of my control. Once my son was off to school, I said goodbye to my 18 month old baby and drove to Big H studios. My team was already there waiting and so were the makeup artists. We started working immediately while Luke and Henry both started setting up their stations. Before we began with the make up, I gave each participant a copy of their legal agreements and explained to them its legal content and agreement between both parties. Many of the participants had questions, as expected and I happily answered them all. Thereafter, we kicked off the day’s activities in full throttle.
My team steamed and set up all the garments according to the order of who was having their makeup done first. I arranged the jewelry, shoes et al and other accessories, while also shuttling between floors to answer questions from both Luke and Henry. As soon as the first participant got her makeup done, we dressed her up and continued in that sequence. I was a little bit tense when one of the participants called early in the morning and said she had a court appearance but that she would be there within 2 hours, but she kept to her word and was there.
The sequence of events for the photoshoot was quite simple; come into the studio, get legal agreement, read through, ask questions and sign them. Hand over our copy and tuck yours away. Proceed to the makeup station or wait as the next in line, while our editor interviewed you about your business and our brand. Once makeup was done, you get changed with help from our team and styled at once. Then you proceed to the photo shoot area and get your photo taken. Once that was done, you proceeded to the glam station and got your glam shot. Once you were done with this routine, you got changed and styled into your 2nd garment for the next shoot and glam shoot at well. In between, there was time to chat and network with other entrepreneurs, eat from the caterer’s tasty snacks and discuss Baba Buhari’s economy…..lol…..that topic seems to be so much more unifying for entrepreneurs, amongst other things.
Meanwhile within the hours since we started working that morning, my team members were making calls to secure a location for the following day’s shoot. They sourced five different locations which all failed, one after the other, mostly due to late permit requirements. Lesson learnt….lol
Once the shoot was wrapped up, the team packed up all the participants’ garments and individually gave it to them……yes they got to keep all the garments that they were featured in…….they were all so excited. We said our good byes, thank you and Henry and I began the photo selection process. Amazing, amazing concept and photography.
While we were reviewing the amazing photos, I got a call from participant who was supposed to participate in the next day’s shoot. She had just come in from Jos for her fittings. We met at Big H studios and then proceeded to my office where Vintage Colette team members were on standby for fittings. Once we got to the office, we had minimal fittings. I picked up the rest of the garments for the 20th’s editorial shoot, which had a completely different set of participants, and headed home.
I was home by 8pm to do homework with my son, while tolerating tantrums from an 18 month old…..my dear angry bird….lol……I finally slept off at 11:30pm and was eager to see what the next day offered.
The next day, May 20th, 2016 was equally the same as the 19th in terms of routine for the participants. The only difference was that the makeup was more intense and we had fewer participants. As I had mentioned earlier, we still didn’t have a location for the shoot, but while Mr. Logistics, a.k.a Hubby, was running around trying to sort that out, I kept calm and we proceeded with make up et al. Luke and Henry were also making their own individual arrangements. After about 2 hours and no location had been secured, I still kept calm since I knew that having a temper could not boil yam or steam vegetables….lol…We finally came up with a better concept of merging 2 different canvases and having a vanity fair kind of photoshoot at Big H studios, and what a treat it was. I remembered when some of my team members got worried when I stepped on the ladder, a prop used for the shoot. I assured them that I was safe and wished it was a tree or a fence….some childhood memories you wish to relive…..growing up is really a trick.
Once we were done and we had started packing up for the participants, I realized something that was true about all the women featured for both days. They were all hardworking women with NO ROOM for drama. They were women who would lift other women……..Souls that needed a pat in the back saying, ‘You’ll be fine, your hard work will pay off soon’……..Women who wanted to express their personalities……..Women who wanted to be celebrated and appreciated……They are individually the perfect VINTAGE COLETTE WOMAN.
I got home and reluctantly took off my make up at 10:30pm and looked forward to a long awaited weekend.
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