My friend Allan Gluck (pictured here with Mark), who is a philanthropist on the board of Esperanza Services, asked me if I’d like to shoot for their clients as free Christmas gifts. It has been a pleasure to visit their office in Alhambra and work with the crew. They are truly warmhearted people caring for others in need. They’re a group of happy and cheerful people.
The elves bring happiness to children.
Clients:
Staff:
This is the final post of the Kimono Girls in Wonderland series. Red Queen and the Card are the last two characters in this show based on Lewis Carroll’s book.
“Off with her head” The character of Queen of Hearts from Kimono Girls in Wonderland is modeled by Elizabeth. Her makeup is done by Saiko Okagaki and her hair by Jun Zaemonn.
“A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red. … Why, the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and, if the Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you know..”
The Card character from Kimono Girls in Wonderland is modeled by Amber. Her makeup is by Saiko Okagaki and her hair by Jun Zaemonn.
The show was a hit at “the Last Book Store” in downtown Los Angeles, California. Kimono stylist Rinko Kimino accepts the crowd’s applause.
Check out more credits and behind the scenes stories at Kimono Days.
Producer/Stylist/Creative Director: Rinko Kimino
Assistant Producer/MC: Amelia Cantlay
Project Manager: Satomi Imai
Hair/Makeup Design Lead: Dali
Stage Director: Eriko Azuma
“In that direction, lives a Hatter: and in that direction, lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.” – Lewis Carroll
The Mad Hatter character from Kimono Girls in Wonderland is modeled by Erika. Her makeup is done by Kazuyuki Ervin Okada and her hair by Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima. Kimono Styling: Rinko Kimino; Production manager: Satomi Imai.
You’ve got to listen to her singing in the show. Such a wonderful voice.
“‘I breathe when I sleep’ is the same thing as ‘I sleep when I breathe'” – by Dormouse from “Alice in Wonderland”. The Dormouse character from Kimono Girls in Wonderland is modeled by Gigi. Her makeup is done by Minaho Takahashi and her hair by Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima.
The trio has so much energy, it’s really fun shooting them. Kimono Styling: Rinko Kimino; Production manager: Satomi Imai.
When Alpha stepped in front of the camera, the naughty Cheshire cat came alive. Her makeup is by Minaho Takahashi; hair by Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima.
Every shot of of Hitomi works. The way she carried the Hooka prop and her expressions immediately brought the caterpillar character to life. Her makeup is by Tomoko Miyamoto; hair by Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima.
Here comes the white rabbit character from “Alice in Wonderland”. You can see the clear resemblance of her high rising hair with bunny ears. The hair stylists did a fantastic job. I heard from Satomi that the team brought the hair props from Japan. Tick-tock, tick-tock, you’d better hurry.
Model: Miki; Makeup: Kazuyuki Ervin Okada; Hair: Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima; Kimono Styling: Rinko Kimino; Production manager: Satomi Imai.
This is Tweedledum and Tweedledee modeled by Julia and Kanae, makeup by Tomoko Miyamoto, hair by Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima. Can you tell which is which? I can’t tell.
Kanae’s makeup is pink and red theme which is hard to wear for normal people, but she wears it well with her yellow kimono. It’s truly juicy fruity couture which reminds me of the makeup book I read by Akemi Nakano. I purposely didn’t retouch the two brown dots on her face away. They look very cute on her face and also fit the character of Tweedledum/dee. Remember in the 50’s, Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe drew a mole on her face as her beauty mark.
I had an amazing photo shoot with the group of talents for the fashion show “Kimono Girls in Wonderland” at “The Last Book Store” in downtown Los Angeles, on this year’s Thanksgiving weekend. I shot the girls right before the show started when they were being prepared by the professional stylists. We worked on a tight “beauty assembly line”. After each model finished her makeup, hair, and came to me, I got 3 to 5 minutes to photograph her before the next model stepped in.
This is the show host Amelia. Her makeup is by Minaho Takahashi and hair by Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima from Dali Salon in Osaka, Japan. She is reading from the book that inspires the Kimono show. Kimono Styling is by Rinko Kimino; Production manager: Satomi Imai.
The trio from Kimono Girls in Wonderland (Caterpillar, Alice in the middle, Cheshire Cat) are full of playful energy. Models: Hitomi, Mayuko, and Alpha; Makeup by Tomoko Miyamoto, Kazuyuki Ervin Okada, Minaho Takahashi; and hair by Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima.
More than 20 people worked in a tight conference room upstairs of the bookstore. When they walked to the door, they had to pass the maze of my lighting gear and be careful not to knock down the softbox on their way. Time was pressing and space was small though everyone was so courteous and full of fun spirit.
The character of Alice is modeled by Mayuko. Her makeup is by Kazuyuki Ervin Okada, and her hair by Mayu Ikeyama and Kinuyo Takasima. Mayuko is such a versatile actress. I didn’t even recognize her at first sight even though I’ve shot her last year in a different role.
There are 11 girls in total that I shot in this less-than-one-hour photo session. I have more photos to be processed and I am going to post them in a series on my blog.
