On Location at Beautiful Boys Hall, Ashford
As a British brand, we know we are tempting the weather gods with a November shoot in England and true to form, 2023 had it all. Our chosen location was the stunning Boy’s Hall in Ashford, Kent, co-founder Rachel had stayed at the newly renovated boutique hotel and restaurant recently and had loved it.
An interior lover’s dream, the 17th Century House is gorgeous inside with cosy wood fires glowing in the communal areas and a sympathetically designed modern timber framed restaurant edition. Designed and run by husband-and-wife team Kristie and Brad,the hotel has a welcoming and relaxed vibe and incredible food. And at 4 pm there are complimentary tea and cakes.
Our AW24 shoot was planned for the 14th and 15th of November, and as the team travelled from London to Kent on a beautiful sunny day, the dark clouds were already forming that evening. Day one of our shoot began with lashings of rain hitting the windows, which kept us inside for the morning, We made the best of the indoor locations with the incredible bathroom and fireplace of the Bishop’s Quarter Suite.
Then we braved the great outdoors! Attempting to keep our model and photographer Georgia dry and of course, our bags. In winter in the UK, you have good daylight from around 9am until 3pm and by 2pm you are already losing the light so it’s a short window to shoot over 30 bag looks per day.
We rounded off the day shooting until the light went and we were cold and hungry. We went to bed that night after sorting out the outfits and bags for the next day hoping for sunshine in the morning.
On the 15th our prayers had been answered and a gorgeous cloudless winter sky dawned. We knew we had to get the best shots today and all hands were on deck to do it. Our gorgeous model Myarah worked super hard and fast for us to catch up from the day before. We managed to shoot in front of Boys Hall and what a background the house makes. Here’s Sarah showing the reality of the shoot carrying all the bags for the shots before the light fades!
Incredibly we shot over 60 bags over the two days! We left exhausted but happy with the results and we can’t wait to show you the collection next year. But as you can see it’s not all glamour on a shoot!
To stay at Boys Hall visit their website.
