Tale of the Hot Pink Tutu
Dancers of the San Francisco Ballet
I am lucky to live in a city filled with world-class music and dance, including its namesake San Francisco Ballet. So when the opportunity came along to hang out with some of the elite dancers in this ensemble, photograph them, and pretend to be a (sort of) choreographer for a day, I leaped at the chance.
I’d gotten a call from a small ad agency representing the French eyewear manufacturer Vuarnet, asking me to bid on a shoot for their Ziari-branded sunglasses to appear in the British fashion magazine Harpers & Queen. Along with a production estimate, I pitched the idea of posing top professionals in various fields wearing vocation-specific uniforms or costumes in small groups. With the addition of dark glasses — voila! The Ziaris would stand out as a fashionable twist of incongruity.
The agency bought it. Our campaign would begin by showcasing the sunglasses worn by five prima ballerinas. We planned to continue thereafter with additional groups of five, including French chefs, Coldstream Guards (given the British magazine connection), firefighters, prizefighters, and so on. From tutus, toques, bearskin hats, fire helmets, boxing gloves . . . you get the picture. They would all be accessorized with Ziari.
