BEHIND the SCENES THE INSIDE STORY OF THIS ISSUE’S RESORTWEAR-THEMED FASHION SHOOT

Words: Richard Brown rssc.com

Take a stab at where we shot this issue’s fashion shoot. Lisbon? Miami? Some sun-kissed island in the Caribbean? Rio de Janeiro? Nope – although Regent Seven Seas Splendor®, the cruise ship we teamed up with to provide some style inspiration for your summer ahead, does sail to all those places. For this issue’s fashion shoot we travelled all the way to, er, Southampton. And didn’t we get lucky?

It’s always difficult planning a summer shoot in the UK, especially one involving swimwear. It’s never much fun for the models, or the photographer, or the stylist, or hair and makeup, or their assistants, or the runner (me) splashing around Camber Sands in March. It used to be that you’d fly to Ibiza or the Algarve. But now every item of clothing needs to go through customs. There’s an insane amount of paperwork. And there were a lot of clothes we wanted to shoot.

We’d planned for no sun. Hedged our bets. Recced the ship’s 14 decks for places to shoot when the thunderstorms inevitably rolled in.

Simon Lipman, our esteemed photographer, thought he could make the ship’s grand sweeping staircase work. Sarah Ann Murray, our prized stylist, was sure she could do something in the spa. There was a casino, a nightclub, an observation lounge. We’d be fine. Still, not exactly where you’d choose to photograph this season’s chicest swimwear. A Fendi bikini in a library? Perhaps it would have worked, you never know.

In the end, we got lucky. The sun shone. We hit the terrace of a grand suite (which, inside, looked like the penthouse of a Manhattan hotel). Then the main deck. Then the infinity pool. Shooting in natural light makes post-production a whole lot easier. Something for which Simon must have been thankful, given that we ended up asking him to retouch 20 images (sorry Si, we just couldn’t pick). See the results on page 90. Southampton was great. Splendor® is some ship. But, Regent, if you ever have room for us in Rio, do let us know.