Unifit-Lucky Brand
Smiley Stevens, a Creative Director and friend of mine, wrote to me midway through 2020 letting me know she’d pitched me for a Lucky Brand Campaign and to connect her with my agents at Storm Management. This was the first job I’d booked with Storm since I made the switch from Wilhelmina LA. Switching agencies had been in the back of my mind for sometime…but I didn’t want to make the leap without an in. Given I was nearing an age that in essence resembled a gravestone within the industry, it wasn’t exactly a bright idea to drop a major agency without a plan b. I suspected I was getting lost in the mix at Wilhelmina on such a huge board of faces. After four years, I felt like I’d given the big name agency shtick a good go and it wasn’t working anymore. I’d pondered the hypothetical scenario of what I’d do if my favorite agent - Deanna ever changed agencies, and I’d come to the conclusion that I’d go with her. So when we had face-timed a few weeks earlier and she’d quietly told me the news of her leaving, I let her know that if she’d have me, I’d follow her. As it turns out, she had also thought about this and we were very much on the same page. Three days later, I notified Wilhelmina LA not to renew my contract. The Director of the board was gracious, and understanding and we left it on good terms, wishing me luck wherever I was off to next. As luck would have it, the Wilhelmina contract was five weeks from ending. The timing couldn’t have been more serendipitous. One of the bigger issues at Wilhelmina was their accounting department. I’d once waited as long as twenty two months to be paid for a job. Most of the time I would wait a six month minimum to be paid, even though the law in both NY and CA stated ninety days was the turn around. My personal accountant had raised issues with this but told me I was relatively powerless to change it, aside from frequent reminder emails to accounting when jobs were overdue. I kept my own spreedsheet of job dates, payment dates, and when the money was actually recieved. The agents at Wilhelmina were always lovely (and I am still with their NYC division) but I was so tired of fighting for money I’d rightfully earned. Often seeing the shots being used months before I’d ever be paid felt like a slap in the face. It was a driving reason for me switching agencies. After virtually meeting with Storm LA, their plan was to represent me in more of a talent capacity which suited me far better. As for the Lucky shoot-I passed Smiley onto my my agents and they confirmed the shoot for the following month. Shot by Ali Mitton (and Australian photographer I’d long adored the work of), and produced by The Gold Horse (who I’d worked with on Red Cherry Lashes) it was the first job I did during COVID-19. We shot on a rooftop in DTLA, adjacent to the studio I shot the Tidal Magazine editorial in months earlier. I was endlessly grateful for the work, at a time when a lot of people didn’t have it. Upon release of the campaign Lucky did a write up on my work which you can read here. As I often find-the best stages are unforgiving when you fall. Rough underfoot. Void of a proscenium arch. And who could argue that you’d trade the discomforts of a roofless stage, nestled among the clouds for something more conventional, when you’ve had a taste of that freedom.
Photos Ali Mitton Creative Direction Smiley Stevens Producer Dalit Gwenna @ The Gold Horse
