The Birds

Yes, this title is just about as haunting as the Alfred Hitchcock film, well, to me at least. I have been afraid of birds for about as long as I can remember and I mean cross the street when you see a pigeon afraid or swiftly duck to the ground if a wee bird in flight is headed in my vicinity. “You gotta face your fears, Beans,” said my editor-in-chief, Laura Brown. Now the nickname Beans, that’s a story for another installment of Adventures in Creative Direction.

Cut to an InStyle cover shoot of Brie Larson. The Spring collections were chock full of florals and fanciful chiffon dresses. After many conversations with Laura and our Fashion director Julia von Boehm we landed on a maximalist, floral, eccentric, Miss Havisham kind of character. An eccentric Miss Havisham should also have a wild collection of exotic birds. And that’s just how editorial fashion brainstorming spirals. I immediately thought taxidermy birds would work. No, no, no live birds would make it much more believable. This is where the face your fears part comes in.

As the on-set creative director, guess whose role it would be to curate the collection of birds and make pairings for each look and setup? Me! All me. The crew and the loveliest photographer Pamela Hanson all chuckling as I head to two huge trucks filled with cages of birds. I cannot even recall how many species there were, as I must have temporarily blacked out. It was all worth it when you see the results. Do you know the saying “herding kittens”? Imagine what it’s like to herd flamingos. P.S. I’m also a bit sensitive to sound; you can only imagine the racket eight flamingos can stir up. Enjoy.

Signed, The Fragile Creative.