Ever wondered what goes into launching a new range?
Come with us behind the scenes on our AW23 photoshoot.
All in the planning
Planning is key! We have done this countless times over the years and the planning does become easier with experience. But there's always things that can go wrong!
First point of call, a few months out, is sourcing our photographer, and discussing the feel of the winter collection and how we want to photograph it. Being Welsh hand-made products we wanted to include our local surroundings for a rustic earthy feel. We always walk the route ahead of the shoot to familiarise ourselves with spots for a great shot, this time we chose a local Air B&B, Penllergaer Woods and Betws mountains which are also close by.
Lastly, around one month out, we contact a model agency to select models. Our first planned shoot date did not end up going ahead as we were let down, so it was back to the drawing board! Cancelling and re-booking trains and hotels but we were set for a new date!
In the meantime our factory staff were busy knitting the socks and knitwear we needed, and we (the design team) had to prepare the additional items for the shoot. We discussed potential looks and how we wanted each garment and pair of socks to be styled.
The location
We keep our fingers crossed for the weather to be kind but always think of some options where we can shelter from rain. As it turned out for a day in August we were lucky that it wasn't too sunny and more importantly stayed dry!
We started at the Air B&B which was called 'The Little Grebe' in Felindre, about 15 minutes from the Corgi factory. We had so much to choose from, the cottage, the lake, the farm buildings - it was a photographers dream! Our photographer Dan knew exactly what he wanted in terms of light and shade and where to start so we followed his lead.
The Little Grebe - Felindre
Penllergaer Woods
Betws Mountain
On the day
There were 6 of us on the day of the shoot, MD Lisa, photographer Dan, 2 x models, designer Hayley and assistant designers Penny and Hannah.
8:00am We get to the venue to start organising for the shoot. We start unpacking the products and laying out outfits, que the massive box of hats and scarves! These were on hand in rainbow of colours to keep swapping in and out! Socks, shoes and knitwear galore, it was time to get started.
8.30am We are ready to start shooting. The shots come thick and fast and there are some swift outfit changes. The day is always busy and fun - Hannah is on IPhone duty capturing lots of video content and the animals we had roaming around, she had a soft spot for the goats! Penny is also camera ready with front, back and close up shots taken for the website.
Once we are happy we have the shots we need we move on to the next outfit. We have a plan of the items we will use and running order jotted down but we often find we change and tweak this as we go along!
12:30pm Time for a quick lunch before moving to our next location. Oh and plenty of coffee to keep us going!
1.30pm We arrive at Penllergaer Woods, it's a slow start after a busy morning looking for the best light and position to shoot (there were a lot of tourists in the area, the waterfall was particularly busy) it's also a vast area which required a lot of walking! With bags and suitcases in tow we headed down to the secluded river and giant red wood trees. The red bark gave the Autumnal feel we were looking for.
3pm It was getting quite warm for the models in the layers of knitwear, we got the shots in the bag - it was time to move on to the last location.
3.30pm The mountains and vast scenery were impressive. We parked up and after another quick change got shooting again. It was a bit windy on the mountain and we had to keep dodging the sheep poo, but it was all worth it!
5pm That's a wrap!!
We wrap up by 5pm hopefully with some great shots to review when we get back.
Once the photos are selected and our photographer has worked his magic on perfecting them they are ready to put on the website and it's launch day for the new lines!
Photographing socks is harder than it looks!
It's all in a day's work!
That's a wrap!
Shop our new sock ranges for men and women, see if you can spot the images we took on our shoot!
The Corgi Team x
