Hello everybody and welcome back to my blog.
After the lockdown it took a while to re-adjust, I just want to share
with you my experience.
First of all, when the government declared that we were able to go out
and start working again I felt quite weird. I didn't go out for another week;
there was a sense of vulnerability, not feeling safe.
Psychologists said that it is very similar to what prisoners from
jail feel when they are finally free.
I wasn't ready. Eventually I started slowly going around town, walking,
I wasn't taking public transports.
It took even more time to meet with my friends, it has been a slow
process, and everyone has their own time.
Pushing it would have been a mistake.
So if this is happening to you too, don't worry, it's totally normal and
understandable.
My first job happened on the 25th of May. It was the Canali campaign, a
3 days job in South Tyrol.
I was very excited to be able to go to a beautiful location, but again a
little scared since it was a big crew of 30 people and with all the new rules
concerning work safety measures.
They rented a big bus and we were sitting keeping distance, with masks
on and a Covid inspector on set the whole time.
So here it comes the morning, with hair and make-up session starting.
FFP2 mask on, disposable vest and face shield. I couldn’t see anything. The use
of the mask was making the face shield all foggy and even when it didn't
there was a weird reflection that would prevent me to see clearly. Nightmare!
Luckily it was men’s grooming and I got away with it.
Another problem: gloves. I use my hands a lot when it comes to make up,
for massaging the skin, for blending, everything. With gloves there was no
sense of feeling...nightmare number 2!
I then spoke to the inspector and the good news was that the use of
gloves wasn't mandatory provided that I was disinfecting my hands very very
often.
Disinfecting tools and keeping the brushes separated for each models was
alright.
So overall apart from the first hour, it went well. The location was
amazing, the nature, and the view. We were having lunch and dinner all
separated, 1 per table on tables of two and 2 per table on tables of four.
After that job I've been off work until the 15th of June...we were all a
bit worried, we imagined a faster restart, it took quite some time. After that
I worked solidly, almost every day, I guess clients needed to get organised at
first and once that was done try to make it up for all the time we've been off.
So these days working is slightly easier, we got used to the mask, even
though it's very tiring. I swapped the face shield with protecting glasses,
its' a constant use of hands sanitizer, and we try to keep distance as much as
we can.
I did my first show after Covid. the 15th of July , The Dolce and
Gabbana men’s.
It was held at the University camp of Humanitas, near the Hospital which
has seen many lives taken away from Covid. Dolce and Gabbana contributed to funding
the research that Professor Mantovani is coordinating and chose this location
as a symbolic place, all done with discretion and respect.
On the backstage we were totally fine, we actually had much more space
than normal, and it was a very nice atmosphere. We had the masks and all the
tools and even on the line up the distance were kept properly.
I don't know if this means that next September fashion week will happen
again, but certainly if it's done with awareness it's doable.
I hope you enjoyed and please feel free to make questions on the
comments area.
