Ruining a designer shirt: How to trust your dry cleaner for a photoshoot
Has it ever crossed your mind that a bad dry cleaning experience can ruin a whole photoshoot? Well, this is something that you MUST think about when you’re in a production, specially in a far away location shoot.
Image by Hayley Clues
When putting a photoshoot together, and doing a walk-through with the stylist (a rehearsal to see the looks the night before the photoshoot) you must make sure that the clothes are the perfect fit, they are stain free and of course, ironed. Why? The camera captures every small detail, and for the most part you want to avoid hours and hours of editing wrinkles of fabric on photoshop.
When the clothing is in need of dry cleaning service, and the items at hand are high quality and pricey, you can’t afford to send it just anywhere. So what do you do when you are shooting on a location far away, or a new hotel?
For the most part, dry cleaners know what to do or know their limitations, but you can never trust them entirely if the garment is one of a kind, and this is what happened to my team during a photoshoot. And when I mean one of a kind, I mean there was only that 1 sample in the entire world… a beautiful handmade silk blouse, that basically gave her life up for a shoot.
So, what happened? The blouse had travel around the world for this photoshoot, and we needed it spotless and wrinkle free for the next morning.The hotel was brand new and had never done laundry service for any guest before. We, as ‘a very worldly team’ assumed the item would be ok and just called them to pickup. The next morning, the shirt was delivered like an animal attack had happened: bleached, teared away in threads, pieces falling off, with grey spots and totally unstructured.
Immediately we were extremely worried, since all the clothing that stylists gather for a photoshoot are borrowed from brands, and usually each piece is already scheduled for another shoot after yours. So, how do you overcome a moment like that!? Knowing that not only the creation of the designer is completely ruined, and probably our relationship with the maison as well, and not to mention the 5 figure cost we would have to cover.
First things first, we spoke with the dry cleaning in question, ask exactly what they did, and checked on the hotel’s insurance / guarantee for guest damages. Luckily the manager was very apologetic and a pleasure to deal with in a hard situation. Knowing how important this piece was, we were able to sort out the economic issue.
What was more demoralizing, was thinking of how to explain the situation to the designer, and most importantly, knowing that after this accident, his brand HAD to make an appearance somewhere in the shoot… I mean, we can’t ruin his shirt AND not even use it, no? We simply had to figure out a way of providing an exposure, let the shirt die with a cause. And this is where having a big group of creatives comes in handy… ideas started flowing:
Image by Andy Fitzsimon
1st: Analyze what part of the shirt isn’t ruined
2nd: In what angle does is it featured as the protagonist of the photo
3rd: Let’s make it a beautiful shot
Photo by Angelo D’Agostino
At the end, we managed to rescue a beautiful angle of the blouse, and make it seamlessly part of the editorial story. Thankfully, we had a long relationship with the designer and we were able to come to an agreement as we explained the situation. This is a reminder, that building relationships and trust is everything in this industry!
So now, how to avoid this from happening again, or to you on your next shoot? Here are three simple questions to ask your dry cleaner before scheduling pick up.
Have you handled the specific material before and how many times?
What process and chemicals do you use for cleaning and ironing?
What is your insurance policy for damaged items?
Quick tip: if the item is not visible dirty, wear it as is for the photoshoot, or you can always hand wash a piece in the sink. Iron it with a steamer or hang in the washroom and let hot water run in the tub, this will create a steam like room and will help with major wrinkles.
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