Transcript

“It's only my work as a show producer, I feel that really contributed. I think that at the beginning, there weren't any producers. There were no choreographers. I could only name the one ballet dancer whose his name I can't remember I'm really feeling awful about it. He was Mannequin’s show producer, but then he disappears from the scene. He was a model and a show producer. And then it's through Carrie's Modelling Agency that Dick and I start choreographing, and then Dick continues with his own company. But I always worked with Carrie's. I actually believe that it was purely the show production thing that we were creating shows that were amazing. We were always striving to do something different. It had to be with special locations, it had to be with loads of choreography, loads of lighting, loads of sound. We would make what was perhaps dull fashion into something that was spectacular. But we could make something spectacular, even more spectacular. If you were in a swimsuit, we might create a waterfall behind you. It was that kind of thing that we were doing all the time. And that is what is happening today. When I see a Balmain show with huge sets of deserts and stuff like that, we were actually doing it on an island off Singapore somewhere. And I think it is that that led on to the show producers today. It has been a great pleasure to collaborate with young show producers, young lighting people.

There was a time when Dick was doing Hemispheres and stuff like that, and they had something called SODA. And they did a Fashion Week in Singapore and Dick and I choreographed all the shows in that week. It was a week and every day had two shows, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. Dick and I would choreograph a show every day. He would do the morning show and then I would do the evening show. And then the following day, he would do the evening show and I would do the morning show. So we took turns this way. And when the models come in, they're like, ‘Brandon, can you please make the show simple?' Because it was the opening evening show so made them rehearse and produce this show that was really huge. And of course, Dick saw the show and then of course wanted to have a better show. So it's not really competition, but we push each other to get better and better and better. And the models would come in and say, 'Hey can you please make the show simple? Dick's just rehearsed us for two and a half hours if we can't work with you for two and a half hours.

What I found was that we all worked with each other, to get the best of what we could. And we would help each other, we would step in for each other, we would advise each other, you know. If we could help we would help all the time. And I don't actually see myself as people working under me, I see that I'm actually collaborating to produce something. And it's something that I've taken through all my work all my life. And I am thankful to the smallest thing people do. And if they do it perfectly and give me no trouble at all I'm in heaven. And I see that contribution. And I'm very thankful for that contribution and I make a point of telling the person what they did for me.

I've gone through different periods in my life where I would believe that what I was doing was way better than anybody else. But today when I see shows, I see what's happening in Singapore, in Paris, everywhere around the world, I don't ever feel that. I always feel that there's so many people that can produce so many fantastic shows these days and the talent level is so wide that it's incredible.”