HOTEL PARADISO

20.11.2015
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HOTEL PARADISO, Spell D E C E M B E R  2 0 1 5

Photography // Film (my honey) Johnny Abegg
Muse Louise Mikkelsen
Styling Isabella Pennefather
Hair & Makeup Luciana Rose
Production Michaela MacDonnell, Love Bali Starz | Assistant Kepsibel

This island was a Summer lovin’ Paradise. Think idyllic white sand, a row of quaint, white and blue A-frame huts lining the turquoise water, a postcard-perfect island haven punctuated by a single swing hanging from a tall, slanted palm tree. Well that’s what we thought when we found it on Pinterest when we typed in #perfect#tropical#island… So, how to find this nameless island?

Insert long, detective mission here by our gorgeous producer Michaela… until she finally discovered that it was a tiny island called Rawa, off the coast of Malaysia. When I say tiny, I mean it has 2 tiny hotels on it, and a waterslide going into the ocean, and that’s it.

When Spelly bobbed along the water toward Rawa, she had her back to the island and eventually sighed “ugh, are we there yet??!” Johnny smiled and pointed over her shoulder and she turned around, only to see our ‘pinterest-perfect’ tropical island dream looming on the horizon. She gasped and held back tears – she had no idea how beautiful paradise could be!!

But of course it wasn’t enough for our ‘Hotel Paradiso‘ location to be just ‘beautiful‘ – it had to be fun and playfully retro, like something out of an old postcard…  So, along with Spelly’s family (husband Dougall and 2 little boys), her twin sister Luciana, my husband Johnny, model Louise Mikkelsen, and Michaela and her team – we also brought along boatload of wickedly kitschy props to deck out our new island home.

T H E  S T Y L E S  ➸ Think flamboyant, tropical prints in sun-kissed-skin flaunting styles: The Hotel Paradiso print with its vibrant peacock and floral inspired motifs (the blue/white styles in this print are Spell exclusives!!), the Aloha Fox print a dreamy print with a tropicana twist, awash with palm trees and hibiscus flowers in hues of watermelon pink and mermaid green, our Palm Springs crochet in soft ocean-inspired colours  and of course a few white luxe-lace stories in the Isla Bonita & Coco lace, just because we ♡ lace.

So, Hotel Paradiso, our joyous ode to all things summer, burst to life in our little island paradise, against a backdrop of palm trees and sun-beams and dramatic tropical storm clouds – and all the while we laughed and played, and wore flamingo pink sunglasses and whooshed down water-slides, swam topless in a diamond studded ocean, drank coconuts cut down from coconut palms by our infectiously enthusiastic gaffer Jocko… (for more, watch the behind the scenes film here).

So we invite you this holiday season, throw down your faded jacquard beach towel, sit back with a margarita and spot the flamingo as you’re whisked away to Hotel Paradiso.