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ALBERTINE SWIM S/S 2016

ALBERTINE SWIM COLLECTION // SUMMER 2016

Albertine Swim presents their Spring/Summer 2016 Collection, featuring the Aqualillies, shot off the coast in the beautiful South of France. Our Aqualillies Europe Team, Manon and Isaline, share some of their thoughts on their experience shooting the film.


 

Manon: Working with Albertine was such a pleasure. We are big fans of the swimsuit line, and also of the designers. Anemone and Caroline were so nice with very good vibes. A day of shooting with them is always such a fun day! Add to that the director Bertrand Jamot and soundtrack by French 79, and you have the dream team for a video project! The water is so cold even in summer because of the wind, but the girls were really professional – they know how to perform as great swimmers even in the given conditions. I saw the girls when they arrived on the morning, and true story, once they put their Albertine swimsuits on, they immediately were so confident and glamourous. I tell you: the swimsuits are magical! It was difficult in the shoot because we didn’t have any music underwater, so I had to go in the water: imagine me with my dress pulled up, knocking two spoons in order to create noise underwater and allow our performers to be synchronized to counts underwater! What a experience!!
Albertine is definitely one of the best European designers!

Travailler avec Albertine est toujours un plaisir immense! Nous sommes bien entendu fans des maillots mais également des créatrices: Anemone et Caroline sont adorables et avec un très bel esprit ! Une journée de shooting avec elles est toujours une belle journée! 
Rajoutez à cela la présence de Bertrand Jamot, le photographe sur une musique de french 79 et vous obtenez la “dream team” pour un projet vidéo!
L’eau était très froide à cause du vent, même si nous avons tourné pendant l’été. les filles ont été super pro et ont su montrer le meilleur d’elles mêmes dans l’eau malgré le froid. Je me rappelle avoir vu les filles le matin même en arrivant, elles semblaient très peu enthousiastes à l’idée d’aller dans l’eau… Mais je vous assure qu’une fois avoir enfilé leurs maillots Albertine, les filles étaient soudain plus sûres d’elles, tellement glamour. Je vous le dis : Ces maillots sont magiques! La difficulté ce jour là était en réalité l’environnement, les filles nageaient dans la mer et nous ne pouvions donc pas utiliser notre haut parleur sous marin qui nous permet d’entendre la musique sous l’eau et donc d’être synchronisées. Il a fallut que j’aille dans l’eau, ma robe relevée jusqu’au nombril à taper deux cuillères l’une contre l’autre afin de “taper” le rythme sous l’eau et que les filles entendent … C’était à voir!

Isaline
 : I remember so well to this day, the water was freezing, the sea was rough, and we swallowed so much water! I also remembered that we had to climb the rocks to go to the starting point for our dive. Luckily, all of our ‘Lillies are great multitaskers, they can climb, swim in cold water, and drink a lot of salt water! They can pretend to be a movie actor for an afternoon… being a ‘Lilly in these conditions can be hard but when you see the finished film, you are so proud to have been part of it! Even when the conditions are difficult, you forget them as soon as you are out of the water. We felt nothing but gratitude to wear such beautiful swimsuits and to work with Bertrand Jamot. Every time we work with him, we are completely marveled by the results! And of course, I will never forget Manon on the surface of the water with two spoons trying to communicate with the team, but she was way too far so she screaming in a little corner of the beach – too funny!

Je me rappelle si bien de cette journée, l’eau était gelée, la mer était agitée, et on buvait souvent la tasse! Je me rappelle aussi qu’on avait dû escalader les rochers pour se rendre à l’emplacement du plongeon. Heureusement, toutes les Lillies du jour était multitâches, elles sont capables d’escalader, de nager dans l’eau froide et de boire beaucoup d’eau salée! Et puis elles peuvent prétendre être des actrices le temps d’une après-midi… Être une Lilly dans ces conditions peut être difficile mais quand on est face au résultat, on ne peut être que fières d’avoir fait parti d’un projet comme ça!
Et puis, même si c’est difficile sur le coup, tu oublies tout dès que tu mets un pied dehors! On se sentait si fier de porter de si beaux maillots and de travailler avec Bertrand Jamot. A chaque fois qu’on a travaillé avec eux, on a fini époustouflé par le résultat! Et bien sûr, je n’oublierai jamais Manon dans l’eau avec ses deux cuillères, tentant de communiquer avec l’équipe en hurlant dans un petit coin de plage tant elle était loin! Trop rigolo!

CREDITS

Director: Bertrand Jamot
Music: French 79
Swimsuits: Albertine Swim
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aqualillies

JANE THE VIRGIN!

JANE THE VIRGIN!

Since its a Leap Year, we found it necessary to Leap onto the set of Jane the Virgin!

Aqualillies Executive Director Mary talks about her experience as choreographer on this shoot: “Jane the Virgin featured Aqualillies in 3 completely different parts of the episode. The first was a ‘rehearsal for the Marbella Hotel’ routine with competitive synchronized swimming choreography such as ballet legs, hybrids and kicks, splashing + dynamic like the Olympics. The second was a “magical realism” floating routine, with different evolving kaleidoscopic shapes centered around Jane, channeling the great Esther Williams herself. Rarely do we get to work with both of those styles within the same feature – we loved the variety! The third section was pure fun, with the ‘Lillies doing a series of coordinated ‘shots’ at the Marbella bar. Synchronized swimmers can synchronize literally anything!”

Catch Jane The Virgin: Chapter Thirty-Five, tonight at 9pm on CW Network!

Read more about our recent TV and Film work over at The LA Times.

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HAIL, CAESAR!

Hail, Caesar! Our feature film debut. We had the opportunity to see the world premiere in Los Angeles this past windy Monday night. The wind didn’t stop stars like George Clooney or Jonah Hill from coming out! What goes better with a movie based in the 1950’s, than the Aqualillies?! We had so much fun channeling our inner Esther Williams, the quintessential mermaid with beauty and strength. This has been such an amazing experience for us, and it was great to be part of the process of a movie written and directed by the Coen Brothers. Check out behind the scenes photos and some thoughts from our ‘Lillies below!

“When I was 4, I announced that I wanted to be a mermaid when I grew up. Flopping in a mermaid tail as a double for Scarlett Johansson = basically means that I’ve gotten as close as anyone’s ever gotten to that particular dream. I glimpsed at the alter-ego, platinum blonde mermaid version of myself….! I doubled for Scarlett Johansson in part of the water ballet sequence, and it was quite a process to get ready. Hair + Makeup temporarily bleached my hair to be the same color as Scarlett’s (i.e., Hollywood bombshell blonde – a serious first for me), and I was zipped into a green mermaid tail + matching bodysuit. (4-year-old me would have died to wear that outfit and honestly 28-year-old me was still starstruck). I rolled my way into the pool, and rolled is the right word, because you can’t jump or get into the pool in any normal way when you have a mermaid tail on. After what seemed like only a few flops later–the Coen Brothers had instructed me to swim in an “awkward” and “flopping” way–we were done shooting. Just another mermaid dream.” – MARY

“I loved that we had the opportunity to film and swim in Sony Pictures Studios’ Stage 30, which holds the same large tank that the amazing Esther Williams swam in when creating her many beautiful films. It’s every synchronized swimmer’s dream to share the same pool as her!” – MARGO

“This experience was very unreal. Being with the rest of the Lillies made the shoot very fun and to be honest, I kept forgetting that what we were doing was going to be in a huge production, but I was very starstruck when we saw Scarlett Johansson and shot scenes just an arms distance away from her. This whole experience still feels like it was just a dream, but with Hail, Caesar! now out for the public, I can finally say I had a small debut!” – HEIDI

“This was my first Aqualillies gig! In competition synchronized swimming, we’re trained to make eye contact and interact with a couple judges. The Aqualillies step it up to having a whole crowd of people with energy to feed off, making it way more interactive and personal. But – I hadn’t even done that before! My very first gig was on-camera in front of a whole professional crew that couldn’t speak while filming. Any shot could be in the final cut that millions of people would see. Plus- I hadn’t even done one live Aqualillies show (which I learned after are nerve wracking enough on their own). Talk about pressure! I think I took my first breath the moment they told us we wrapped. Also, we never get to perform in groups of 35, so it was fun to see all everyone all at once and splash around together in such a big pool ! Knowing we were each channeling a little Esther on Stage 30 was a very cool experience.” – ALI

“I’ve long loved the films of the aqua musical age and could easily imagine diving back into that era while we were shooting. I would say this experience was my dream come true… but I never dreamed of making a beautiful vision to come life while in the company of best friends for a feature film!” – RITA

“I feel so blessed to have been a part of Hail, Caesar! As a total nerd in my real life, this amazing experience had me feeling like a movie star.” – ZEENA

“I had an amazing experience on set! The staff was so friendly and organized; there was this natural flow behind stage that really honored and respected everyone’s hard work to make this film come together. The pasta bar was pretty incredible too!” – CAITLIN

“Being invited to a Hollywood premiere was just the icing on the cake to having had the amazing opportunity to perform in this movie alongside a great cast and crew! I loved getting to be on set with my fellow ‘Lillies, the Coen brothers, and Scarlett Johansson. The highlight for me was swimming in the same pool as Esther Williams and getting dressed up in 1950’s suits and makeup, I felt so glamorous! Seeing what an incredible movie this turned out to be and all of the excitement of being on set totally made breaking my toe during filming worth it!” – LAURA

“I clearly remember getting in the plane with fellow NY Aqualilly, and dear friend Georgia, sharing with her: ‘you know I know my job there, and it is gonna be great, I will be there and that is all that matters’. Our swimsuits and caps, were very very traditional to our Aqualillies standards, orange and yellow is not your usual combination! We got so see Scarlett Johansson’s green mermaid suit, and it was just beautiful! Best time in my book of “best times” for sure! Receiving direction by the Coen Brothers, being on set with such strong women, and making it all happen in the same pool where Esther Williams shoot her movies. You cannot beat that!” – GIO

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SWEATER WEATHER

‘Tis the season! Winters in Los Angeles are a little warmer than the average, which we appreciate given that we’re usually in a pool more days than we’re not.

Recently we collaborated with LA-based photographer Katie Parker Rixon, but not in our usual environment. No pool, no swimsuits, just sweaters– well technically we had swimsuits under the sweaters. The shoot was at Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce, formations created by erosions 25 Million years ago (fun fact). These weren’t just any rock formations, they are some of the most beautiful and unique landscapes that Los Angeles has to offer.

This shoot was a great opportunity for the ‘Lillies to get out of the water and on the land for some great sweater weather shots. We asked a couple of the ‘Lillies what is their favorite part about sweater weather here is what they had to say:

“My favorite part of the holiday season is the music! That’s all I listen to from the day after Thanksgiving until New Years.” – TINA

“I love this time of year, because everyone is a little more focused on making other people happy.” – PAIGE

“During the holiday season I love cozying up in snowy Minnesota with my loved ones, a yummy peppermint hot chocolate, and a crackling fire” – SARAH

“Food, Family, Fun!!! And it means to take a break and reflect on everything that’s happened this last year, and plan all the growth for next.” – ALYSHA

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NYFW WITH CHROMAT

Last night was another one for the books. Aqualillies NYC made a splash at the Chromat’s NYFW after party! Staying on trend with the rest of Fashion Week, this party was full of innovation.

Our ‘Lillies were each wearing a different style from Chromat’s BOND swimwear line, as they danced around guests decked out in caged outerwear and colorful other worldly hair colors.

“NYC during Fashion Week is always magical, fun, fierce, and very very New York,” said ‘Lilly Gio.

Chromat’s daring designs were the stars of this party… Aqualillies were modern models and the pool was the runway!