Tusia Photo Shoot

Our next door neighbors run fashion house, Oscar de la Renta, and so when they approached us to see if Tusia would like to shoot for their kids ad campaign, we couldn’t say no. Although I am not a fan of the modeling business (what kind of message does it send the child? Is beauty more important than school? etc….), I felt that this was a once in a lifetime experience that we couldn’t pass up — not many people can say that their first and only photo shoot was for Oscar de la Renta. Last Friday was definitely a learning experience for the two of us — surrounded by new things and processes…  I am not sure I love any of it — regardless, I am so happy that we did it. And absolutely everyone involved in the photo shoot was kind, loving, and thoughtful. Take a look at the behind the scene pics — and as soon as we get the final photos (if she doesn’t get cut — you never know!), I will share!

 

First, we had a fitting two days before the shoot. During this fitting, it was also a try out for the other models. The other four models were professional and hired children models — a very dark and weird place (IMHO).

Look two that she tried on. It was during this fitting that we met the stylist, Mariah Walker, who couldn’t have been nicer.

On Friday, we were told our call time (I had to email the director asking what “call time” meant) was 1 PM…and we were told to meet at an RV in Prospect Park at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn….the timing worked out perfectly and we left school at the noon dismissal, ate lunch in the car, and got there right in time!

The hair and make up (HMU) team was also really wonderful to work with: Thor Vikar and Julianna Laney. Of course, I found myself asking them a billion questions….

Make up was organic, of course 🙂 And the only make up really applied was cover up below the eyes and some blush.

The hair.

The dress and the stylist working on the finishing touches of the perfect socks and laces on her shoes…

All the looks. In total, there were five models — the other four were homeschooled and spent their days on photo shoots. They were all incredibly beautiful and knew what they were doing — us, not so much.

Two braids for the final look.

Heading out with some sunny sunnies.

We were transported by a van to the shoot location in the middle of the park. There were lots of people walking their dogs and checking out the scene — gotta love NYC.

I want the shoes with these floral laces.

It takes a village to get some photos! The head photographer was Franck Malthiery and he had a team of five assistants.

The team was mainly French, so I had a fun time speaking to them in French. They were all confused by how I knew French and how I had a daughter that wasn’t a model and yet here we were on the Oscar set getting photographed.

So many eyes on her all at once!

Franck, the photographer is the man on the left. An incredibly nice man with super gorgeous work. He showed me the shots and they were really breathtaking….

Getting styled for the second look. I love this whole outfit and want it for myself.

Sitting on a bench waiting for instruction.

Done! Walking back to the RV to get changed and take the subway home!

 

What a day it was — it was so exhausting that Tusia fell asleep at 4:30 on the subway home. A new experience and I couldn’t be more proud of her trying new things and being so positive and easy to work with. I can’t wait to see the final photos!

 

Anika Yael Natori, aka, The Josie Girl

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4 Comments

  1. Your daughter looks so beautiful. What a blessing to get to try something like this.

  2. I can’t get over the braids. It must have been so fun for her to get to have her hair done, and to get to try modeling.

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