STORIES FROM THE SET: ADIRONDACKS

Looking back on the Adirondacks photoshoot, a few things come to mind: mountains, minivans, margaritas… and making the East Coast come to life in the Southwest.

As you know, we very rarely photograph a collection true to location. Sometimes it’s too expensive to take a whole crew, sometimes it’s logistically too hard, and sometimes it’s just too far – remember: we bring a LOT of stuff with us! – so we have to get creative and scout locations that can pass as a believable setting and tell the story we want the collection to convey. Believe it or not, we shot Adirondacks – a collection meant to tell a story of East Coast elegance – in a gorgeous guest cabin on the side of a mountain in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Shoutout to our magnanimous hosts and their impeccable aesthetic! Oh, and to their sweet pups, Smokey and Blue.)

Now, back to the minivan. Here’s how the logistics usually work on a photoshoot: the family usually drives all the props to the location, and everyone else flies to the nearest airport and a car is rented to transport talent and techs and stylists, etc. This particular trip, it was a good old-fashioned minivan, which are not known for their mountain-climbing abilities. As you might imagine, our first trip up was quite a comical one, because we had no idea what we were getting into, but we definitely knew we had to keep moving if we wanted to make it up. (And we may or may not have almost gotten stuck sliding/spinning in the loose gravel at the top – thanks, Jack, for saving the day on that one!)

Though it debuted after Yellowstone, we photographed Adirondacks first, so this was the first shoot we had our summer intern Shelby Jordan and Hedy’s daughter, Presley, helping out. Y’all, Hedy and Presley’s dynamic is a riot; they’re both clever and quick-witted and when they get to riffing, it’s priceless. And it’s always fun to watch someone experience their first photoshoot, because there is truly no way to describe it.

Speaking of people not realizing how much goes into a shoot, our hosts seemed pretty astounded by the sheer amount of stuff we brought. They graciously granted us access to an empty garage space to style and change the models, roll in racks of clothing, and spread out the jewelry and props for easy access when merchandising and staging. At one point, one of our hosts walked in and declared, “Well, I’d have given you a two-car if I’d known you had so much stuff!” To be fair, we didn’t realize it either; when you Jenga everything into a van to get it there, it’s pretty mind blowing to see how much it expands when laid out.

It was also on this shoot that we learned about something called the “French Girl Diet” – have y’all heard of this? Essentially, when you’re really trying to watch what you eat, but there is something unhealthy or off-limits that is really, really tempting you, the trick is to allow yourself three bites: one to say hello, one to confirm, one to say goodbye. In theory, it makes – moderation over deprivation – but in reality, c’mon… who has that kind of willpower?! As Hedy said, “Oh, but I would just keep confirming! Confirm, yep, I like it. Confirm, I still like it.” Same, girl, same.

Perhaps one of the most amusing and memorable bits from our Santa Fe trip: The Great Air Conditioner Debate! So, we’ve wrapped our last day of shooting and we scramble to find a place that can (and will) seat and serve our whole group this late. (If you didn’t know, the town of Santa Fe shuts down at like, 8 p.m.) When we get there, they escort us to a back, private room – probably wise, we’re a loud bunch – and the only way to describe the climate of that room would be “rolling tundra”. That AC (one of those wall units) was so frigid, and it oscillated, so like every 15 seconds or so, one half of the table would be teeth chattering and the other half would get a brief reprieve. Herein lies the problem: the only person who could reach it to turn it off was the only person who wanted it on! Thus, the Great Debate. Fortunately, after a few minutes of back-and-forth, begging and pleading -- and laughing and shivering -- Audrey finally (jokingly) laid down the ultimate trump card, “CEO”, and alas, the AC was off and we all thawed out. (And then, ironically, all ordered frozen margaritas.)

The weather made us sweat, the altitude made us short of breath, and the typical tribulations inherent of a strenuous project with a lot of moving parts had us all doing a lot of “whoosah”ing.

But wasn’t it worth it?!