The people you meet and work with at the shows change you, as much as they inspire you. Last week as everyone landed in Milan, lovely Luis Fernandes had been taken ill and died on Monday. He was thirty-six.
Luis might not have been a front row name – but he was worth ten times their seat. He filmed the shows as a cameraman for Tim Blanks at style.com, but I worked with him on a London’s World Video show Planet Fashion, when we were both starting out. I wanted to go to shows to see the clothes and beautiful girls. Luis wasn’t so bothered about the shows, but the girls: now we were talking. He would film my backstage interviews, and didn’t even flinch the time my questions got answered in Japanese rather than English. Was unfazed by the delays, the queues, the drama. The glint in his golden tooth a hint of his wicked streak, his own business ‘Shooters’ was doing great but there he was, each season in the pit as diva tantrums passed him by. He could charm his way around any situation, and I suspect any skirt as well as most security guards. He was as much one of the lads as well as one of the good guys backstage.
I missed his last phone call. He even sang me a song to entice me to call back. I texted and said I wanted an encore in Paris. Sadly that will never be. If you were lucky enough to work with him, sign Tim’s blog on style.com.
