Q&A With L’Officiel Arabia Cover Model Anna Bari
Story by Dora Rodriguez
We recently sat down with romanian beauty queen Anna Bari to discuss the huge accomplishment of landing the cover of L’Officiel Arabia.
Background
Anna Bari is an international model and influencer of Romanian origins. She got her big break in the modeling industry when she became the first runner-up for Miss Europe 2021 and Miss Elite World- Popularity 2021.
Dora Rodriguez: How was it shooting the cover of L’Officiel magazine?
Anna Bari: This shoot was such as an amazing experience and I am so honored to have been chosen to appear on this beautiful magazine cover. L’Officiel is one of my favorite fashion magazines and it has always been a wish of mine to be on such a cover.
DR: That’s amazing. Congratulations! How long was the shoot?
AB: People don’t realize all the hard work and long hours these types of high-end cover shoots take…The shoot started around 2:00 pm and we finished at around 11:00 pm. It was quite long, but worth it, once I saw the amazing result.
DR: Wow! Seems like a lot of hard work! Where did the shoot take place?
AB: One part of the shoot took place in the beautiful and luxurious Palazzo Versace Hotel in Dubai, where the staff gave us their full support and even helped with some decor. And the second part took place in a studio. There were two photographers involved in this production.
DR: That must’ve been so amazing to shoot in such a location. Did you get to have a say in wardrobe or did the magazine take over the creative direction?
AB: I contributed to the shoot with my own ideas but ultimately the magazine had the last word. And as they are experts in fashion and styling, I was more than happy to follow their guidance.
DR: Which were your favorite wardrobe pieces from the shoot?
AB: My favorite wardrobe pieces were this beautiful red dress designed by celebrity designer Miley Cao, and an interesting dress also with a red bow around my neck designed by the talented Nina Lipkina. I also loved rocking a beautiful pair of boots by Identita Calzature with this dress. This outfit gave me so much confidence and I’ve actually been told it shows in the photos.
DR: Yes, you looked so amazing! Did you enjoy working with the L’Officiel magazine team?
AB: I enjoyed very much working with the L’Officiel magazine team! It was so much fun and we laughed so much during the shoot. Although it was a lot of work, and although the shoot from start to finish lasted over 10 hours, it still felt like it went by so fast. It’s so great to work with humble and creative professionals.
DR: Indeed! So, we are all dying to know… Were there any fun anecdotes you’d like to share about the shoot? Any wardrobe malfunctions?
AB: Actually before the shoot I had insomnia and couldn’t sleep too much that night, so the next day, on set, I don’t know where I gathered so much energy from! And I think my lack of sleep might’ve contributed to so many wardrobe malfunctions during this shoot, but that’s precisely what made it so much fun. The Alessandra Rich earrings were so gorgeous but kept falling from my ears, the red knee-high boots were too small for me and that’s why I couldn’t walk in them, and I fell and almost got injured during this shoot. Believe it or not, that’s actually why we decided to shoot that outfit with the red boots on the floor, but everyone said “you’d never know the story behind it from just looking at the photos!” In addition to the outfits shown in the cover feature, we also shot a beautiful nude dress, but we realized after we shot it that is was so transparent and, well, it didn’t leave much to the imagination…So of course, since the shoot was for L’Officiel Arabia, we couldn’t add it as a part of the final shots to be submitted to the magazine. I honestly think this whole shoot could’ve been an episode of a reality TV show because we were even seen climbing over Palazzo Versace’s hotel garden fences while the cooks were staring at us…We told them we were indeed “cooking something!” The photographer was definitely a professional because if I were him, I wouldn’t have been able to focus due to all the laughing and ruckus going on between the makeup artist and me.
To follow Anna Bari’s fashion journey, be sure to follow her on instagram @misss.anamaria
