When getting off the bus across the road from Dazed’s Central London HQ, you couldn’t miss them. Plastered across the posterboard outside creative hub 180 The Strand – also home to IMG Models, TikTok, Frieze, and British fashion stars Ahluwalia, Samuel Ross, and Standing Ground’s studios – in the late days of 2023 were the covers of Dazed’s autumn/winter ‘Baddie’ issue.

At first shiny and full of colour, as the weeks wore on and the notoriously shit London weather, and more specifically, the endless rain washed them out, their corners beginning to peel off and fade, until there was just one remaining. Like a fallen angel watching over passersby on the busy street outside, enormous wings affixed to her back, was angelic baddie and rising supermodel Ponahalo Mojapelo.

The standout cover was captured by frequent Dazed collaborator Kristin-Lee Moolman and styled by Zara Mirkin, and featured a swathe of innovative AW23 pieces from Jordan Brand – among them, its relaxed ‘Diamond’ shorts, its impactive ‘Wings’ jacket, and a pumped-up puffer jacket finished with Jordan Brand’s signature ‘Jumpman’ logo branding. Joining Mojapelo on the shoot were a whole cast of heavenly creatures: namely, the next big things on the runway – a new era of supermodel baddies. 

With Dazed and Jordan Brand sharing similar values, the link-up feels like a symbiotic one, with the behemoth sportswear brand giving Moolman and Mirkin free reign when it came to the creative behind the shoot. Both brands are also champions when it comes to uplifting fresh and rising talent.

But what goes on behind the scenes? With that in mind, and in a bid to open the doors to a historically exclusive industry, we decided to unpack exactly how a shoot like the Jordan Brand ‘Baddie’ cover comes together – from initial stages to final fruition – to equip a fresh wave of fashion creatives with some baseline knowledge as they try to get their foot in the door. Read an enlightening conversation with Dazed junior fashion assistant Andra Amelia Buhai below.

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH 

“The beginning part of a shoot is really a lot of research. Once you’ve set the creative and you have your vision and what you want it to look like, the research starts – from fashion, to clothes, to moods, to colour palettes, to locations. Most of the things you probably already have in your mind, but it’s a constant evolving process – some things will change, some things will stay the same.”

IT’S ALL ABOUT BRINGING A CHARACTER TO LIFE

“When it comes to knowing what to call in, it depends where the creative is coming from and what you want to create with those images and the characters you have in mind. Sometimes you have to be really specific, like you really need that one look you requested because that’s a big part of making the shoot work. Ultimately you’re creating a story and you’re trying to show the audience your vision and the characters you have dreamt up. The way I do it is a lot of trawling through Vogue Runway through the season’s collections until I have a long list of what I want and go from there.”

“Finding the right model is all about the character and what the story is. Sometimes you will have references for the look on your moodboard, but then when casting it’s not about the physical look, it’s about the look in their eyes. You have to see something that speaks to you and the characters you imagine” – Andra Amelia Buhai

THAT’S WHEN THE LOGISTICS COME IN 

“When you’ve got your research together, your team confirmed, and a list of all the clothes you want to call in, the logistical stuff starts. “All the emails start going out to the PR teams asking for samples, the negotiations begin – they might not have the pieces you want, so will offer alternatives,” says Buhai. “And then there’s the nightmare of coordinating deliveries from all over the world with very short turnaround times. A garment might be on a Dazed shoot one day, and a shoot for Vogue in a completely different country the next. It’s every stylist and stylist assistant’s nightmare getting all the packages moving. And then there’s the times you have to hand-carry pieces when shooting abroad.” 

AND THEN COMES THE MODEL

“Finding the right model is all about the character and what the story is. Sometimes you will have references for the look on your moodboard, but then when casting it’s not about the physical look, it’s about the look in their eyes. You have to see something that speaks to you and the characters you imagine.”

KNOWING YOU’VE GOT THE SHOT IS INSTINCTUAL 

“Knowing when you’ve got the look or the shot is a feeling. It’s really hard to describe. In terms of the look, the fitting feels like exam day. You’ve done all your revision and research, and all you can think when you walk in is ‘I’ve forgotten everything’. But as soon as you go through the rack, it all kind of comes together, and without even thinking about it too much, your brain starts to make sense of what you’ve been thinking about this whole time. It’s the same on set when looking at the image – it’s a feeling, an instinct. It feels right, and exactly how I imagined and how the photographer imagined.”

Shop Jordan Brand here.