13
After Paris, we had a few weeks off. So Lowri and I retreated to Pennsylvania.
The work on the Mercer studios, as they were to be called.
Mercer Studios LLC is the official name of the corporation that owns and manages the facility.
Look, I own it; that is clear, but that means I own the building and paid for the remodels, etc. The contents?
I don’t know what is needed. But Ellen does.
And Ellen knows folks who can manage this facility.
So, we have a corporation. Since Byron wants to be involved, he is involved.
And my father? Of course, he has a share in all of this. And Carmine and Angel. I mean, why not?
Mercer Studios is a convenience thing for us. So that we do not have to travel as much, I can do a lot of the KK work, and Angel can drive over for a day when needed. And Carmine can stay local for her product stuff.
And when the three of us are not using it, well, it is designed to be a premier facility, and it is close to the Grove City Outlets, and that means a lot of brands that do sell there have easy access to a local studio for what they need.
Outlet fashion shoots are not what we, the three of us, do.
But they still need to be done somewhere, and we are way cheaper given our location and local costs than New York or LA.
So on our return to the States, Lowri had a lot of work to catch up on. I had to catch up on Carmine. And with school. I am doing two different independent studies this spring, both for six credits, so that I can maintain a full time status.
The first was an interesting idea that Evonne, a good friend of mine, keyed me into.
I am doing a six hour independent study as a transwoman undergoing an extremely public transition in an extremely feminine associated career choice.
And the Women’s Study professor, Dr. Crowley, was deeply fascinated by what this would reveal.
Now, this means that I have to meet with her more than occasionally and review what I have done, what I have learned, so that she can review what I have written.
Yes, and you thought that I was not in school. Fooled you a bit.
Dr. Crowley is extremely happy, especially with the UAE experiences and revelations.
She is suggesting that we lighten the impact on these for this semester, but since I already know I am contracted back in the fall, design a second independent study just around the UAE experience as one.
Good, that means that half of my fall schooling is decided.
The second independent study is with the photography unit in the art department.
This is a dedicated program offering a degree, and the one I may end up actually taking now that I think about it.
The instructor is Dr. Elliot, who is also the department chair, and the proposal for his department is a six hour independent study of what it is like to model for professionals as a professional model.
The end goal is that I am going to do a two to three day symposium on my experiences for a summer program.
What Dr. Elliot wants is that I teach my students what it is like to work with different photographers and how the attitude and means of communication affect my work in the studio.
We all know that some models and photographers just click, and it is a divine session.
But with other photographers, it is pure torture all the way around.
And Dr. Elliot believes that this is more of a photographic issue than a modeling issue.
He believes that there is a responsibility on the part of the photographer to see to the needs of the talent, not the other way around.
And of course, I had several meetings with him. And he also is fascinated by the entire UAE experience and wants to talk about a fall independent study focusing on uncommon and abrasive environments and what they do to models, and how a photographer has to accommodate those emotions.
The rest of the school, we are really now talking about the Rho house; things were excellent.
With both Carmine and myself in Mercer for a few weeks, I was able to spend some time at the house and renew friendships and make new ones.
I was a bit of a different student as I was not actually in class, but doing the writing required for both of my independent studies.
Neither study was research biased, meaning that I was not in the library looking up the work of others, but experiential, and I was expected to relate what I found to be true as I experienced all of it.
I was flown around a little bit. The US Vogue decided to use a photo from a show not used in Europe; trends are different this side of the ocean, and that paid about $120,000 for the cover, and the seven photo interior spread from the same show added another $60,000 or so to the total.
And of course, there will be residuals. Vogue publishes a different version in a different language for each market.
Some small, some large. Some run on time, and some are two to three months behind.
I will most likely pick up a handful of small covers from Paris.
But those do not count. I have three majors, and that is all that the industry cares about.
For every cover I get in a year, my rate goes up roughly ten percent for the next series of shows.
And as long as I get covers, it does not fall. It falls once the covers stop.
That is the world I stumbled into.
And because I like rubbing salt into a wound.
When I do a signing for a cover, there will be cameras.
And they will focus on what I am wearing.
I get about $4 10K for wearing a designer’s clothes to a signing.
If I do two signings in a day and change?
Double that. And since the claim will be made that these are my clothes, I get to keep them.
It was decided that I was to do Tokyo and Shanghai in late March and the first of April.
South Korea was a possibility, but they are not Japan or Shanghai.
Japan has a strong cultural alignment with transgender women, and Shanghai is fully open.
Korea? I said no. I do have to protect myself.
Korea has several massive so called Christian religious movements, and they are homophobic and transphobic, and I did not want to encounter those movements that far from home.
Besides, two weeks is long enough to be gone.
Both cities and sets of shows will be good from an experience standpoint and from my independent study standpoint, as I will be dealing with Eastern cultures and a trans model.
And, surprise, Ellen has signed Evonne, my friend from last fall, who is also a trans model, although she identifies as transgender and has had surgeries.
Not sure what surgeries; that is simply not talked about, OK?
And Evonne is going to accompany Lowri and myself. Japan and Shanghai are huge markets for KK Brands, and although they use primarily local talent, Byron wants both Evonne and myself to do some work for KK Brands while we are there. Byron knows Evonne and has used her and considers her family.
And without an escort this time, I was told, “You will sign zero contracts because I can’t afford the time to travel to Asia, do you understand me, daughter?”
I liked the daughter part. I will comply since he asked so nicely.
And the four of us, private jet, of course; I am not allowed to fly commercial while I am getting frequent covers. I will almost certainly be discovered on the plane, and that always spreads like wildfire.
So we are flying private once again, our friendly eight passenger with just the three of us on it. Evonne said, “Good, room for clothes coming home.”
Evonne explained that in Asia, we definitely get everything that we wear. It is a cultural issue, and not to bring it home is an insult.
Lowri said, “They say that because they are too cheap to pay you to wear their clothing, and this way they know that if you have to take it home, then you might wear some of it without their paying, cheap bastards, we need to focus on London, screw the Japanese.”
Evonne thinks that Lowri is an absolute riot, and at times, I do agree. At other times, she is a Lowri, and regardless of how you spell that name, there is something about the women who bear it…
I did twelve shows in Japan. Ended up with the Japanese Vogue for a cover of me as a geisha.
It was not done at a show, but a contrived and requested shot.
And Evonne also got the geisha treatment for a day.
Lowri went nuts with her cameras. Yes, of course, she photographs us, and yes, she sells those same photographs.
Look, everyone alive photographs us, OK?
The shows here are similar and a bit less intense.
You do fewer changes, and the runway pace is slower, more gentle, more feminine for you.
I kind of enjoy it. In Europe or the United States, it is fast paced and intense.
Here, it is more acting in a way; you have time to interact with a lot more of the audience.
We finished the shows in Japan and then traveled to Shanghai.
Shanghai, well. The less said, the better.
Second class hotel, that was obvious. Twelve shows, relentless pressure.
Too much screaming for no reason except to prove that someone has the ultimate right just to scream.
And that is a truth, even if I really dislike writing that contains that last sentence. But at times, only the truth prevails.
Evonne agreed. We turned down covers, both of us.
And yes, you had that right. I do not want to be a fashion icon in this culture.
The only reason we did the last two days is to respect our contractual obligations.
And once we were done with the last show?
The three of us were in our cab and on our plane, and our clothing and belongings had already been moved.
We were airborne less than an hour after leaving the runway here.
Some places are matches. Japan is a great example.
I personally loved the people and the culture.
Evonne and I both felt respected. We were introduced to other Japanese transgender models and feted and dined with sensitivity.
I would return to Japan in a heartbeat. Shanghai?
I would give up this profession if I were told that I had to return.
Along the series of flights, our plane had to refuel several times to cross the Pacific.
Evonne and I, along with Lowri, had long talks about what I had been experiencing and how my reception had changed.
Evonne felt that I had grown into the role of a model and feels that little of the male is visible even to one such as herself who knows exactly where to look.
And Evonne and myself, with Lowri as our supporter, are thinking that we are going to ask Ellen to begin to schedule us together when she can.
We both understand that we are independent of everyone else, but the circuit is the circuit; there are only so many premier shows.
And why not offer our services as a pair?
We definitely would not be the first set of models to do that.
I also have to look forward. The rest of April and May are busy months for me.
Mostly local, but ten days in London for KK Brands.
On location stuff, a good bit of it with Angel.
Evonne is only doing runway now; she no longer feels the need to do the fashion shoots that I still need to do.
I am building a career, and she is in the middle of a well constructed career.
Evonne also talked to me about the June and July time period, which is a lot of specialty shows.
Very high end, great potential for covers, but also smaller and far more controlled.
These are flying in in the morning, doing the fitting, the show where you are doing twenty changes, then overnight to the next city.
Evonne said that the money is really good, but what is more important is that it shows a willingness to commit to the industry.
And then there will be August.
And that is not an Evonne topic, but a Carmine topic.
And then we were home again. Evonne was now living in New York; she had maintained an apartment there, hard to get and rent controlled, over the years, and liked just being in New York.
So we parted ways, and Lowri and I returned to Slippery Rock, to Carmine, my parents, the horses, the dogs, and the two Porsche 911s that I finally felt safe driving.
I had actually taken a few lessons while in Europe.
And to be honest, to drive mine, you really do need those lessons.