Mettle – Fair Trade underwater shoot

Our new range of accessories was inspired by Luc Besson`s 1997 film ‘The Fifth Element’, it was
heavily influenced by themes surrounding the survival of humanity and the human form. Created using
brass body casting techniques set against rigid Lucite geometric forms to symbolise the evolution of
our past and the science of our future.

 

For this reason we decided to shoot the next campaign underwater to re-create the fluid, out of this
world nature of the range and to introduce the clear Lucite pieces to our customers.

Our first task was to find a photographer with the right experience to capture the looks underwater, a
very niche and quite complicated skill set, which after a lot of research happened to be the brilliant Cal
Mero.

Cal was able to provide all the logistics and lighting knowledge as well suggestions on styling and
MUA, which requires a whole new approach to traditional fashion shoots. He was the master that kept
the whole thing together.

 

Stylist Sophie Barker and myself then started to piece together all white looks that had a futuristic feel
but would still create movement in the water. This also made it easy to source pieces as the fact they
were going to get completely wet meant we couldn`t borrow from other designers. One look I decided
to design and sew up myself as I couldn`t find what I was after, so my days in apparel design came in
handy.

For the MUA we wanted a clean face with a bold lip and candy hair after basing it on the character
Lelu from the fifth element. We wanted to create an almost alien looking creature. This was not as easy
as first thought and required sourcing a wig that could be securely fastened to stay on in the water. The
make-up had to be a heavy water resistant base and required constant fixing in between changes.

The end result of the shoot was a success due to efforts of a group of talented people who pooled (ha-
ha excuse the pun) together their skills.

Brianna Hallihan  – Designer / Mettle

 

 

Janice Wu : Makeup Artist

The recent underwater fashion shoot for jewelry label Mettle with the talented designer Brianna Hallihan, photographer Cal Mero and stylist Sophie Barker proved to be a fun challenge.

Having never been involved in underwater shoots before, everything was quite new to me in regards to the makeup.

Before the shoot I did a bit of research on what was required for underwater make up, and applied basic common sense – using waterproof products, intensifying the colors and heavily contouring facial features. I was told that everything underwater would become quite muted so highlighting and contouring the face would be extremely important in comparison to normal photoshoots.  Cal was able to provide some insight on what was required due to his extensive experience.

All products used to create the look were waterproof, cream based, and finished off with a sealant spray to keep everything in place. In terms of the hair, Brianna’s range was inspired by the movie The Fifth Element and wanted to incorporate that into the shoot. We sealed the model Ana Kingsley’s hair in a hair net and replaced it with a bright bubble gum pink wig shaped into a short bob similar to the main character in the movie inspiration.

During the shoot, the problems encountered was as expected. Many touch ups were necessary at regular intervals. The wig, although tightly secured, still moved due to underwater pressure, and the lipstick needed constant retouching.

Surprisingly enough, there were no major dramas in regards to the makeup. Once we got the ball rolling, with a few touch ups here and there, and the collaboration of a fun and talented team, we produced amazing and satisfying results.