Happy Friday babes!! Today I wanted to share a really special project I shot a couple months ago featuring the amazingly talented designer, Charles Youssef. As soon as I laid eyes on his collection, I knew it was unlike anything else I’d ever seen and couldn’t be more honored to shoot some of my favorite pieces! Bold and innovative, yet classic, each piece is so unique, and displays his inspiration from architecture, geometry and art. From the  impeccable structuring of each sleeve, to the way the fabric moves with you, every tiny detail in his designs is perfectly thought-out. One of the first things I was drawn to was his use of angular shapes and color combinations. They are so strong, but he manages to craft every piece to perfectly fit a women’s silhouette, one of the reason’s why Lady Gaga purchased his entire collection for her 2010 tour..how cool?!

Being in the fashion industry, I also wanted to share a bit about the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) which recognizes top fashion designers, retailers, stylists etc. One of the amazing things about this organization is their Fashion Incubator program which sets up young designers like Youssef with low-cost studio space and teaches them proper business practices. I think it’s so important to have programs like this to help grow and support up and coming creatives. We were fortunate enough to have these images featured on the CFDA’s IG account earlier this week!

We shot this look a few months ago at the Desert X art exhibit in Palm Springs! Since Youssef’s collection is heavily drawn from his interest in art and architecture, I wanted to capture this look in a similar surrounding! The mirrored house exhibit was the perfect backdrop with the desert and mountains reflecting in the mirror. I love the zig-zag feature on this one-shoulder blouse and the real color of these high waisted trousers!

Love the color-blocking and geometric shapes on this crepe blouse and pants set! It felt like I was dancing while wearing this blouse because the pleated sleeves opened up with every movement and brought even more dimension to the look. At first I thought it would be overwhelming to wear this blouse with the pants, but if you look closely the shapes and color-blocking from the blouse flow perfectly into the pants from top to bottom!

Hope you guys enjoyed these looks! Any fun plans for the weekend?! Let me know in the comments below :)

Xxo, Jessi