Let me share some back story on my situation here before I ask these questions. As I reside in about in the middle of nowhere. According to model mayhem I do not have any recently active designers near me, other than 2.5hr drive to philly or NYC. I did arrange my first big personal project working with a clothing designer on my green pine dress shoot (in portfolio on here/fstoppers profile). I attempted to arrange another one with a little more creative thought and concept behind it and got tons of creatives interested as for models, which is great. But nothing from others like MUA/Hair, and the key most important part clothing designer from the MM casting call I had up, which by the way was for TF and yea I'd understand most may not be interested in doing but its fashion personal project where we all help each other. Sadly I'm sure every MUA/hair and clothing designer on NYC MM already had great portfolios or can get it anytime I had very limited time frames since I have to travel there and shoot it while renting a studio space or using a public spot which I have no problem doing. So my problem is getting important creatives for TF work for personal project or my only other option is to hire them which can easily be $300 to $1000+ for MUA/hair and clothing design at the bare minimum. Models I have no issues, I attracted very attractive models that could easily look like super models in major agencies in NYC too.
My question may be obvious now, how do I get a chance to work with a clothing designer? Should I consider looking for designers working remotely without being at the shoot location and maybe shipping it and offer even paying for the shipping? Don't have a whole lot of experience here on working with designers and thought I'd ask the fashion pros here. If necessary, have you ever hired a clothing designer for a personal project, if so, what is a range for prices I should look for if I do decide to do that?
I'm in Toronto, which is not a small town by any means, and I have a rental studio here that sees a lot of fashion oriented photographers come through. I can tell you from experience that most of them simply style their creative shoots with clothing they buy at stores like H&M, Zara, Guess, etc. You don't necessarily need one off custom made designer pieces to shoot fashion.
The other half that comes through here does work with designers, but most of that is commissioned work where the designer has actually hired the photographer to shoot their collection.
There are a few folks here that shoot designer pieces on a TF basis for creative work. Most of them find designers through networking. Local fashion shows are a good way to meet people. We also have schools in my vicinity that teach fashion design, so some photographers will solicit these students.
Another option is social media. Your nearest major city probably has a Facebook group setup for new designers. Joining those groups and reaching out to the folks can be a good start. Instagram can also be a good source for more remote and international work. Search hashtags which are related to what you want to shoot. Reach out to designers on there, and offer to pay for shipping to get a few products that you can use on a shoot. You'll be surprised how receptive some folks can be.
Best of luck!
The clothing for the concepts I was going for is a bit more elaborate than the stuff in stores like very bold, big, crazy creative clothing that is pretty impossible to find in a store. I was thinking like concepts as bold as Von Wong which has inspired me to come up with these concepts. Something different, unique, that needs custom made wardrobe. I didn't think of fashion shows since I thought I'd feel the extreme anxiety coming from everyone in production that I'd be too nervous to talk to anyone depending if I'm just viewing or offering my services for access to network with them, even then I'd need to be very sly with the talking and not pissing them off while they're working hard for the show.
I posted a model mayhem casting and posted many local (NYC) facebook groups, no interest. At most I can do is ask the previous clothing designer I worked with in NYC for others he'd recommend, or actually going to a fashion school which nearest ones I think are in Philly and NYC for me. I only went to creative/modeling/casting groups though, so looking for fashion groups is an idea I'd try.
Gotcha thanks, wasn't sure as to working on the international/national and shipping their hard work via shipment as some (understandable) can be paranoid about it being shipped and not near their hands.
Now I did a little research. The closest fashion degrees in colleges offered as a major is about 2-3 hour driving distance from me. Which I don't mind just getting the contact info will be tough to get in touch with the students themselves. Would you recommend contacting the instructor/dean, etc. to offer them to pass along my info or something similar? or even better I can offer my time and give tips on working with a photographer on personal/portfolio projects and talk for 30-60 minutes or whatever but not sure if I truly got enough credibility to get that. Ideas?
Aside from the sound advice from Peter, I wanted to mention that working with out-of-state designers is definitely an option. For a lot of the editorial work I do, I like to feature indie / up and coming brands (most of the magazines I work with prefer that), so I have reached out to several designers and cosmetics brands for creative TF work, with tear sheets being the goal of the collaboration.
In some instances the items were shipped to me with no expectation of receiving it back, while other terms involved them shipping it to me, but that I was responsible for shipping the pulled items back. Other instances involved security deposits in the event items were damaged. In some cases, the collaborations were unsuccessful due to the shipment not arriving in time, so ensure that the items get shipped to you with a buffer of time. Otherwise, my collaborations with out-of-state brands have been successful!
When it comes to working with MUAs and hair stylists, I wouldn't rely on casting calls, but personally message those that you're interested in working with. When I've previously put together creative teams for editorials, I've taken a top-down approach, by reaching out to those that I really wanted to work with the most (perhaps were even intimidated by), and reaching out to others should they be unavailable or not interested. To my surprise, my top choices were almost always the ones who decided to collaborate, and I've forged some lasting relationships with them as a result!
Thank you Kendra! I agree! I also did message them on Model mayhem, most ignored, some responded its not in their schedule, and some aren't doing TF at the time (even though their MM does not say paid only). I did the top down approach which did get me responses just not the ones interested in working as they're the top with limited to no schedule and since my schedule was very limited as well to specific dates in their area like my projects for NYC they couldn't participate. I got other options for hair/makeup by possibly pulling from hair/makeup creatives in my area if they're interested in taking them to other spots like NYC, which has the designers and models I am looking to work with.
I'm sorry to hear that! I've definitely been there before, but I have had some of those creatives who originally declined, reach out later on to work with me as I began to focus more on editorial work. Tear sheets still possess a strong allure for a lot of artists, so turning your concept shoots into editorials with designated magazines to submit the images to can really help to bring the team together.
But, there is something to be said about traveling to a bigger market. I can't say I enjoy the commute much, but I do enjoy the much larger pool of talent I have to draw from when I do venture down to my closest fashion hub. Granted, Miami and New York are very different markets, but there are so many talented individuals to pull from that it makes the traveling expenses well worth it.
I've made it a point to scout locations once a week, in Miami, specifically for reasons such as this. When you have that time crunch and unpredictability of shooting at a further location, it goes a long way to have a catalog of possible spots to pick from.
Thanks Kendra for the tips!
Kendra, thanks for participating in this group and always dispensing such solid and helpful advice. I really appreciate your input and expertise. :)
Thank you for the lovely feedback, Peter! I plan to stay active and contribute where I can!