The mood on set at Los Angeles’ McCadden Space Studio was casual—relaxed, even. The Moroccanoil team joked with the first model of the day, Amalie, amused that she hadn’t seen the 2001 movie of the same name with Audrey Tautou. She laughed brightly and promised to watch it, saying her friends give her a hard time too.
Stylist Kevin Hughes helped the atmosphere on set stay fun and laid back.
Now, there are quiet spells on sets to be sure, but this wasn’t any ordinary photo shoot—it spanned two days with five models shooting seven looks channeling a South American ambiance. One model, Emily, trekked in from Toronto to be on set, while another—our cover model, Jesse—showed up despite a very recent surgery to repair a broken elbow. No, the tranquility on set wasn’t simply a peaceful intermission; it was planned.
Her big break: Our cover model Jesse almost didn’t make it to the shoot. She broke her elbow and had to have surgery just days earlier.
Thanks to diligent preparation by Moroccanoil’s Robert Ham and Amy Rosenfeld with photographer Robert Lynden—not to mention the expert styling ability of Artistic Director Kevin Hughes—each look was quickly executed without a hitch.
“We spent a ton of time finding the right models,” says Hughes, who says that’s half the battle. The other? Managing time on set. “Since there are so many people involved, you want to respect everyone’s time,” he explains. In this case, having more models was actually a blessing. “We didn’t have to redo a model’s hair again and again,” Hughes says. “After we got the shot, they were free to go and we moved on to the next look. The models love it too!” Maybe, but we think you’ll love the collection even more.