Sony Panorama

A less physically exhausting but just as poignant job that JAS has been involved in this season was for Sony with photographer Andreas Bommert. Art Director Nils Eberhardt conceived several panoramic adverts depicting polar opposites interacting at an incredible distance. We see Little Red Riding Hood meeting The Wolf, a same dress fashion faux pas between two girls and a tween boy “grossed out” by the cootie infested kisses of a tween girl. Shot in studio and then later machined and stretched, the end result is a long banner of a panoramic environments.

National Gallery of Australia

We were approached to help promote the National Gallery of Australia’s newly developed sites’ landscape.  Pushing for an international audience, a theme was developed around creating a stereotypical ‘Aussie’ backyard with a shock value. Situating some kitsch iconic props such as a Weber BBQ and manual roller lawn mower, an odd environment was created with ultra modern, geometric lines of the new landscape clashing with the 1950s style family. The Piece de resistance however was Geoff Ostling, whose entire body is covered in tattoos of native Australian flora. A perfect blend into the natively planted landscapes of NGA, Geoff's nude body will certainly draw attention, along with the odd Australian family "living" in the grounds of the National Gallery of Australia. 

Qantas

Further into Spring our entire team was called for all hands on deck, travelling south of Sydney to the Macquarie Pass National Park with photographer Adam Taylor, to shoot Qantas’  ‘Spirit of Luxury’ ad campaign. Using NSW’s natural rainforest as a backdrop, JAS strategically placed exotic, tropical flora to imitate the Qantas Business Class Lounge and it’s own ‘Living Wall’. The renowned red lounges designed specially for Qantas by Marc Newson were transported from Alexandria to the site, and then hauled into the depths of the rainforest.

South Cape Cheese

This South Cape Cheese campaign was released in April to coincide with the royal wedding. Working with photographer Matt Hoyle, Janai and Pete created a series of potentially disastrous social events, only to be saved by an adorned platter of delicious South Cape Cheese. A pink sweater wearing mummy’s-boy is introducing the love of his life for the first time… scary goth hardcore girl in high biker boots and shaved pixie hair-cut. A young bride is horrified at the discovery that her mother has made her a meringue-like wedding dress. Three distraught, die-hard, wannabe princesses dressed in matching velour tracksuits, tiara’s and embellished Ugg-Boots sit with make-up streaming down their faces watching the wedding. This shoot called for some extreme sourcing, no stone was left unturned with our team sourcing from Terry Hills, Penrith and the Shire.

Opera Australia - La Boheme

In late 2010, Janai, Jo and Nate took on the project of dressing and propping the modern interpretation by Opera Australia of the Italian romance story La Boheme. Set in cold Berlin it is a dramatic tale of love emerging in darker times. The promotional shots were staged at Sun Studios using an existing exposed brick wall and painted flats by Phil Skelton. Photographer Chris Kappa worked with the JAS team on the day to accentuate luscious fabrics in a romantic colour palette such as blood red velvets, light latte linens and coppery metallic’s, inspired from a huge Persian Rug. Timeless antique furniture in deep cherry woods and marbled stone were placed on set, including aged oil paintings and world globes, as well as kitsch vintage pieces such as a toy carousel and bird cage.

The cast’s wardrobe took elements of their surrounding colours and textures into account to help marry them into the environment. Focus was preferred on the cast’s character but each needed an accent of some sort to personify their characters attributes. This included sequin sleeves, cherry red pocket squares and bronze waistcoats. The mood of the play is dark just like many dramatic romances… so black was a strong feature, broken up by deep raspberry and charcoal greys. The men in soft tailored suits and women in courageous necklines and featured sleeves. Each outfit was put together to not represent a particular Era in history, but to come across slightly timeless … Love has no historic date!

Good Weekend Stories

Last month's Good Weekend Magazine fashion stories took us into the cooler seasons of the year. A silvery-white winter is where we began our Poncho story, inspired from Pringle of Scotland AW 11/12. When keeping a monochromatic palette, pieces need to be identified through texture and tone. Wools and weaves combined with printed patterning create points of focus, such as a loose knit poncho or grey tweed pants. With accessories it’s best to keep it streamlined and not too fussy. So sterling silver jewelry and metallic sheen bags with low detail work well. 

For the second story we injected a bold colour, keeping with the monochromatic palette. Raspberry Red is a total showstopper! Our influences grew from Sonia Rykiel’s AW 2011 runway where she shows a figure hugging dress, with a floaty sleeved blouse and red hot Mary-Janes. A vision of a 1940’s independent woman with confidence, and courage and a little bit of old Hollywood glamour. Pulling off an entire outfit in such a bold palette takes confidence. To not lose your womanly curves, synched waists and belts keep an hour-glass figure. Brands such as Anna Thomas and Scanlan Theodore host very strong pieces in this trending colour, and lighter tones in handbags can sit beautifully on top of this deep red, blue based outfit. 

The Actors Studio

We recently teamed up with photographer Michele Aboud, hair stylist Michael Wolff and make-up artist Justine Purdue to shoot a story that takes it cues from 1950s New York. Our direct inspiration was the famous Actors Studio on W 44^th St in Manhattan, where Lee Strasberg developed the method acting technique. The result was a modern take on the aesthetics, silhouettes and energy of, among others, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Sidney Poitier. And with gorgeous models to boot. Makes us think we were born a couple decades too late!