It takes a small village to raise a fashion spread. Between the early mornings, meticulous product tracking and long hours organizing everything—schedules, equipment, people!—it can be hard to find any glamour in it. You either love or hate working on set, and I love it! At the end of the day, it’s the people that make it all worth it—and we had a magazine’s worth of great folks working on this month’s fashion feature (coming soon online-stay tuned!)

Putting it all together is like cooking a big family meal. Everything has to come together just right, from planning to ingredients to final product. In this way, art director Amanda Hill formulated an imaginative menu with Marimekko inspiration; then together we pulled out our mixing pot (thanks again for the great venue, Nordic Heritage Museum!); added a dash of stylist Lauren Schugar’s fashion pulls from local favorites like Baleen to big brands like Gucci; sprinkled in the extraordinary moves of America’s Next Top Model contestant Binta Dibba; stirred in Jamyrlyn Mallory’s makeup magic; skilled photographer Ryan McVay clicked and flashed it all together; and then editor Kate Calamusa and I added a few editorial finishing touches into the spread you see in April’s issue.

Sorry, no juicy tidbits to divulge this time around—we were a pretty lighthearted crowd! But if I had to reveal which item I wish I could’ve carried off set with me? It would be the Gucci gold leather low-top rainbow platform sneakers—my teenage, Spice Girl-loving self would have died and gone to heaven!