My amazing friend and former roommate, Julian, let me and my crew take over his Manhattan penthouse for a test shoot with child models – in the theme of “Copa Cabana.” We had so much fun!

I want to express my gratitude to Julian for the full run of the place for an entire day, to my assistants Dana and Victoria, to the kids’ groomer Thora, to the assistant stylist Irem, and to all of the models. I also want to thank Amanda at Product Model Management, and Olivia, for connecting me with such fabulous child-talent! Fashion photography is truly a collaborative effort, and it was great to see all of this talent come together and produce good work. It made me realize how lucky I am to have so much good energy and so many gifted people in my life.

We shot the photos all over the colorful apartment, and decked the kids out in equally colorful clothes. Julian even let the kids stand on his tables and jump on his beds – I askedthem if they got to do that at home, and they all giggled.

Another fun element was Julian’s cats trying to get involved with the production.At one point, a cat jumped inside the softbox that I had just put on the ground and we could see her brushing up against the sides in little circles. Julian pulled her out by the neck, and all the kids thought that was hilarious. (I breathed a sigh of relief, assured that the equipment would be returned to the rental facility intact.)

It was an epic adventure in photo-making, with a lot of shots packed in. Next time, I hope it will be nice enough to shoot more out on Julian’s terrace and roof-deck! Click here to view more photos.