I was home at my loft, waking up to a cup of my favorite Vietnamese coffee
Prepping for this shoot was INSANE! A crazy 24 hour adventure styling 10 people, but not just anyone…It’s the entire cast of “Parks and Recreation:” Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Rob Lowe, Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Nick Offerman, Jim O’heir, and Retta. And this is for the GQ Men Of The Year issue.
To put this in context, a normal shoot styling 1 person usually takes 3 days to prepare.
This time, we only had 24 hours to get together as many looks as possible for each of the 10 people. For me personally, that means at least 5 options for each person…so we’re needing 50 looks now…multiplied by pants, shirts, jackets, skirts, dresses, shoes, belts, etc…hundreds of pieces I will need by 6am! THE NEXT MORNING!!!!
Luckily, I have great contacts here in LA and with a team of 4 assistants helping me pull, we were able to make it happen!
Here are some behind the scenes pics on set. We shot at the old CBS studio, home of where “Parks and Recreation” is filmed; and the concept of the shoot was classic 70’s Hollywood Squares. After my team set up all the clothes, we were astonished to realize we filled up 8 rolling racks and 3 accessories tables filled with shoes, ties, belts, pocket squares, tie bars, and jewelry.
Some of my fav looks:
I chose a sexy yet conservative Dolce & Gabbana lace top for Amy Poehler which she looked so chic in; and for me, I couldn’t imagine Aziz Ansari in anything less than this John Varvatos 3-piece suit. He has a very debonair quality, don’t you think?
We had such an amazing time on set! Chris Pratt and Nick Offerman were so funny and great to work with! Jokes were flying left and right. Amy Poehler was awesome, Aziz Ansari is just so cool and smooth. I also got to teach my favorite tie knot, a half windsor, to Mr. Adam Scott.
I just want to thank Danielle Levitt who did a fantastic job photographing the cast, and I’m SO glad everyone at GQ loved the spread. They’re truly an amazing team to work with!
Don’t forget to check out the show, Thursdays at 9:30pm PST on NBC.
Check out the spread in this month’s GQ featuring Rihanna, Channing Tatum, and Ben Affleck on the cover.
