Frequent collaborators who come on set with me will probably recognise where these tunes are from: a playlist called This Is a Fashion Shoot on Spotify. Also known as the 387 songs I have curated over my six years of being in this industry: some have been played by former colleagues, some were heard on shop floors and some were added in sneakily.
From placating frazzled people on set (everybody loves Mariah!!!) to encouraging more shy talents or models to “get jiggy with it, goddamnit“, I hope this list of four tunes help you feel better bout your day.
Or as my geriatric aunty says, “put a pep in your step, sonny!!!”
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My first mentor in the industry was obsessed with the ’80s (she even used to come in vintage Jean Charles de Castelbajac) so much that when I first assisted her, I knew she sat at her desk the minute this song started piping through the office.
I hate to be that person but while most recognise it as the song played in 500 Days of Summer (Seriously? They have the appetite for such a show?), it reminds me of The Wedding Singer!
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If you were a teenager in the early 2000’s who had an obsession with Topshop, you’d probably hear this song in their stores (RIP Knightsbridge, though). Like some of the childhood trauma I buried deep into the recesses of my mind, so did this song.
I unearthed it many years later during my stint at a womenswear magazine where my creative editor started blasting it through the studio. Funny fact: it makes the talents and models I work with pose a little more edgily. Must be the heavy bass…
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This song — especially the dynamics between Patti and Mariah — reminds me of my industry rock, Sha Shamsi. Or as I’d like to call it, crazy enthusiastic aunt and her happy-to-be there niece. While the song is so intensely feel good (I call it a shot of aural dopamine), I always smile listening to it thinking of the many hours Sha and I spend on set dancing to it.
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Fun fact, I went to a really crappy gig by Chromeo once. They were over two hours late and refused to take pictures with fans. I gave up halfway and ended up drinking 11 tequila shots so guess who had fun?
Debauchery inside, this song is solid gold. If you don’t tap your feet listening to it, I suggest booking a visit to your neurosurgeon. What is wrong with you?
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