by Emma Drinnan

Bright blue water, pebble covered floor and an orange sun drenched glow. You’d be forgiven for thinking we were in tropical resort not in Central London. The luxurious spa in the Haymarket Hotel, Mayfair provided the gorgeous backdrop for our Swimwear fashion photo-shoot.

Behind the scenes at most shoots are usually far from glamorous, especially on location, doing make up crouched on a pavement, changing looks hidden behind sheets and carrying so many bags full of accessories from place to place. This shoot was the complete opposite, we had a gorgeous meeting room next to the poolside for styling, hair and make up with velvet chaise longue and at least ten different music
and light settings.

Swimwear shoots can be very dull, a swimming costume is after all not what truly excites me, I like stunning pieces that inspire and  thrill my eyes. I was so glad when Guy Hipwell, creative director and stylist, informed me of his angle for the shoot. Oversized jewel encrusted necklaces and cuffs, fuschia pink lipstick and stunning jackets styled over cut out costumes. Each look would take you from pool side glamour
to an evening party in your hillside villa in Ibiza.

The show piece had to be the beaded Ashish jacket, I am known for my magpie tendencies but this was attracting even the dullest of dressers to wanting it in their wardrobe. It weighed more than you could ever imagine and the beads swung with every twist and turn.

Margot the Russian female model was incredible to watch, constantly striking a pose every second she was moving like an exotic cat who was clearly in her comfort zone in front of the camera. She couldn’t wait to dive in the pool and was most upset when (for the lipstick situation) we insisted she had  to stay above water.

Antonio the male model was not so up for the water shots, being Brazilian he was used to much warmer tropics. He had such a great look for the swimwear putting us all to shame doing sit ups in between shots.

he final images really showcase how beautiful you can look on holiday, I will be opting for a more sophisticated look by the pool this Summer of course the only problem is that I have to start the bikini body preparation.