She steps out in a
bejeweled cutout midnight blue dress, modern romantic in fuchsia, embroidered
delicate petals soft as butterflies, reveals her fears with a play of
transparencies, shielded in blush flowers. We take a peek behind the scenes of
‘Her Midnight Garden’ photoshoot, the Tony Ward Ready-to-Wear Fall/Winter
2023/24 collection…
Sunrise on the
Mediterranean, we are at Mina Image Center a platform for artists that promotes
creativity and diversity through art, discussions and ideas. Upstairs, Kristina
is listening to music with her ear pods while Sharbel Hasbany draws a
mysterious stretch of eyeliner. Laysla is glancing at her phone while Michel
Nader creates her hairstyle, behind her a black and white archive image of
Bekaa valley in Lebanon. From upstairs, we have a 360° view of the team getting
ready on the bottom floor…
Downstairs the team
is setting up the stages for the photoshoot. Tony Ward is with Elsn the
photographer, preparing the set for artistic images of the collection’s looks.
In the next room, lined with light grey concrete walls and floors, Kristina
walks around in a black jumpsuit sprinkled with colorful sparkling embroideries
and a beret, for some test shots before we start to film each look in motion.
In a dark corner, another stage is being prepared, the collection presentation
video will be filmed here and the mood needs to reflect her secretive midnight
garden. Zoya Ward our film director is with Roy, fine-tuning the lighting, the
camera angle. Nour from the marketing team is in charge, she makes sure
everything rolls smoothly.
The ladies are ready, Alina steps in front of
the camera, ‘someone is chasing you’ Zoya tells her, and suddenly the model’s
inner actress is revealed, the team is blown away. Roy gets the ball rolling.
Lewis is backstage catching a smile on camera; Elisa, in a midnight blue midi
dress embroidered with silver drew drops and Kristina in velvet with a starlight
embroidered taffeta cape, between two poses, while our stylist Zeina adjusts
the train. After a few shots, we find
Alina and Laysla sitting on a stool, whispering and laughing, in their leafy
green dresses with embroidered flora.
Time for a little
dance, Alina is already grooving, wearing a pure white tulle dress with floral
multicolored thread embroideries. Joe our intern chooses a Latino tune for
Elisa who came all the way to Beirut from the Dominican Republic ‘it’s my second
time with Tony Ward’ she tells us ‘last time was at the couture show in Paris’.
We catch Nadim, our marketing team’s filmmaker with a lighting stick filming
shadows of silhouettes for the collection teaser. Laysla blows a kiss to the
camera in her wildflowers white guipure embroidered nude dress.
Rays of twilight
interrupt her introspection
She’s a dreamer
At the edge of reality and her own fantasies
Inside ‘Her Midnight Garden’, the Tony Ward Ready-to-Wear Fall/Winter 2023/24
collection