SINGAPORE, April 4 — Taking that gorgeous #OOTD (outfit of the day) fashion snapshot is all about having a good story to tell — even if your snap is a spontaneous one.

So says famous designer Jimmy Choo, who was in town last Friday (March 31) to help launch Huawei’s P10 and P10 Plus series at ION Orchard.

The Penang-born designer, now based in Britain, shot to fame in the 1990s thanks to his shoe line with British Vogue magazine accessories editor, Tamara Mellon. Choo sold his 50 per cent stake in the business in 2001, and now concentrates on his own couture line.

He said that any fashion portrait communicates a narrative. To illustrate his point, he discussed — what else? — shoes.

“When you’re passing by a shop window, or if you’re looking at a magazine, you pay attention to who is wearing the shoe. ‘Oh, I must have the pair of shoes because that woman looks good’, you would think,” said Choo, who was conferred the title of Datuk in Malaysia in 2000, and awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in Britain in 2002.  

But there is a certain tone, or mood, to each picture that first draws the eye to the model, he added. That “mood” could range from dreamy and romantic, to cutting-edge.

Local fashion and beauty photographer, Leica ambassador Richard Chen, agreed. He was at the event to represent the Leica brand, which is in a continuing partnership with Huawei.

Chen’s top tip, in fact, is to first decide on the overall feel you want to present, because that will set the tone for your “story”, and thus, your picture.

“You craft the story, craft the narrative, and you (then) know all the colors that will go with (the picture) and all the styles that you want to go with (your presentation),” said Chen.

One of the P10 series’ new functions is a dual-camera setup at the rear, and a front camera from Leica. It also has a brighter sensor and larger aperture lens for better selfies. A new Leica camera portrait mode also helps with a blurred, or bokeh effect for gorgeous snapshots.

Chen warned that no matter what camera you are using, lighting is always essential to getting a great fashion portrait or selfie.

“Look for soft sources of lights like lamps that bathe you in warm lighting,” or wait for the sunset, said Chen. The rays of the setting sun in particular will “hit your face at just the right angles.”

Since filters are so hot, Chen had this piece of advice — use filters that combine teal and orange, which give a lot of visual impact.

“You see this all over Instagram. It provides the strongest contrast in terms of tone,” he said.

The Huawei P10 series aims to be a “pocket studio” and to make every shot a “cover shot”, according to Cheng Jiangfei, country head of Huawei’s consumer business group. ― TODAY

*The Huawei P10 is available at M1, Singtel, Starhub and all major electronic retail outlets. The Huawei P10 Plus will be available on April 15. For more information, visit http://consumer.huawei.com/sg.