Before coordinating complex projects, I moved equipment, drove vans, cleaned spaces and solved problems that would never appear in the credits. Fashion productions and events taught me work from its most concrete level.
Over the years I worked intermittently with companies including Triz Production, Solo Prod, Music Mania and Piano B. My roles changed: runner, production assistant and, on smaller jobs, producer. I worked on events, photo shoots and video productions for brands including Versace, Motivi, Missoni, Zara and Armani Exchange.
Client care includes what the client never sees
Fashion showed me an almost obsessive attention to detail. It was not limited to the final image: timing, materials, travel, order on set and the ability to anticipate a request all shaped how the work was perceived. People at the beginning of the operational chain quickly learned that even an apparently minor task could slow the entire production.
It is a very physical version of what I would later call the invisible work behind an idea.
A photo studio inside a barn
During a Zara production with Solo Prod, I travelled to Tuscany with the producer. The shoot took place on the property of Swedish photographer Mikael Johansson, with an international team brought together for the job. The chosen studio space was an empty rural building. Before professional equipment could be installed, our first task was sweeping a floor covered in pigeon droppings.
The image stayed with me: an international production in a remarkable destination could begin with large brooms inside a barn. It was not a contradiction. It was the work required so that everything afterwards could look precise, clean and controlled.
Carrying on without listening to the body
I repeatedly crossed a field between the production base and the set while pushing a loaded trolley. Heat, exhaustion and probably low blood sugar eventually forced me to stop behind some bushes and vomit. I told no one and carried on until evening.
For years I might have told that as proof of resilience. Today I also see its limit: being reliable does not mean ignoring your body or turning suffering into a badge. The experience left me both lessons — the willingness to do what is needed and the need to recognise when the way we are doing it is not sustainable.
From manual work to coordination
Those jobs did not give me an impressive title, but they gave me a useful point of view. Before asking teams to deliver, I experienced what it means to be the person who loads, moves, waits and fixes. That memory still shapes how I manage people, suppliers and unexpected problems.
