01 Feb MODEL LOCKDOWN

MODEL LOCKDOWN

By Jay Harris 

I sit here, quiet and still gazing out of my office window.

I am lucky enough to see beauty, rolling fields of colour, animals and wildlife, trees, sparse of leaves but silently strong and ready to regenerate come the Spring, filled with life, strength against the elements whilst the horses graze, blissfully unaware of an invisible horror that engulfs all of humanity.
I’m tapping my fingers on the desk, strumming alongside my overactive thought process.
I am fighting, I refuse, No, I will NOT mention it, I just won’t, I don’t want to.
It’s as if, just by mentioning its name will shift its focus, bringing it to me, tapping on my window.
I WILL NOT LET IT IN…
Damn it.
There is no choice, what the boss wants- I respect.
Gia wants ‘Model Lockdown’! 

Coronavirus, there, I’ve said it now, so my fingers strum the keyboard instead of my desk.
It has affected EVERYTHING and EVERYONE, our lives are currently, and with all probability, will be, changed forever.
There have been dreadful losses of finance, freedoms, strength, laughter and sadly, the loss of lives. This hurts the most, it burns, igniting fear and an anxiety borne from despair.
How do we choose to distract? To desperately detract ourselves from over thinking or simply going silently more insane?
Well, we can force ourselves into action, do something, be creative and find entertainment within the boundaries that impede us without our permission.
This is how the Haus of Giordano chose to fight.

Gia is never one to be thwarted or beaten. Sicilian blood is like fire, it will burn aflame with determination and power.
She has been working stoically and silently throughout this nightmare and I can establish that this is one of the reasons that she has chosen headscarves to begin a new range for February 2021.
Throughout time, headscarves were used for practical reasons, be it a bad hair day or protection from the elements, but Gia views them as something very different.
She envisions femme fatales, disguise and protection.
The head is completely obscured by the garment, the body tied and bound by the garment, keeping thoughts hidden and the body shrouded.
Memories locked away within the mind and bound to ones body in a flurry of distraction and secrecy.
Images of haunting places or moments of immaculate celebration, a concoction of both?
True to that Sicilian refusal to be beaten, the idea came to Gia that the photographic evidence could still happen, despite the imposed imprisonment of freedoms usually taken for granted.
Protecting yourselves and more importantly, others, meant that the inevitable photoshoot was in jeopardy and albeit cancelled and so she chose to create a challenge that isn’t easily or usually achieved.
The models have a natural beauty and expressive flair, an inherent ability to shine and bewitch, that’s a given, but how will they manage to not only showcase the garments but do it alone without the usual array of bustle and fuss?
Model Lockdown was born.

These exceptional ladies rose to the challenge and embraced it, creating images with isolated selfies and didn’t they excel to exceptional levels of incredulity.
For once, individually they had free, artistic reign.
Not an easy task for someone used to only being one side of the lens. Yes, anyone can take a selfie – but to succeed in such a task of showcasing themselves AND the garments; is rare.
Gia wanted them to try, to take full control and of upmost importance to her was that they should have fun whilst doing it.
The results of the experiment are inarguably, as you can see, phenomenal.

Between the dedication, determination and artistic free license of these amazing individuals they have come up with something that is not only beautiful but also inspiring.
And in that moment, I myself cannot see that virus peeking into my window, my fingers will cease tapping, and I feel a true sense of peace.
We are, all of us, as individuals or together, unstoppable.
It is within us all.
WE WILL WIN.