WWW. PO LO L IFES T YLES .COM
GILLES MARINI TA LL , DA RK & H A N DSO M E
Gilles Marini on pandemic projects, creative processes, family life and what the daredevil saw when he locked eyes with a horse
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Photos by Julian Dahl · Styling by Jen Leeser, Karen Dahl and Carole Marini · Story by Josh Jakobitz
hen we first talked with Gilles Marini about shooting the cover of Polo Lifestyles’ September issue, we didn’t know exactly how it would work. We are in the middle of a global pandemic, and, to be honest, we were nervous. The last time we commissioned a photo shoot and did not send representation was never, as in never-ever. So, we spoke to the photographer, the stylist and Gilles at length about our vision for the shoot and cover. Then, we bravely left it in their hands to
accomplish. Once called a Renaissance Man by his castmates on “Brothers & Sisters”, Gilles turned out to be a jack of all trades. He assembled a small team, secured a location and coordinated the date and time for the socially-distanced photoshoot. “If anyone tells you they’re busy these days,” Gilles joked, “That’s B.S. Everyone is just sitting around watching Netflix in this town.” And this is how we came to schedule a socially-distanced photoshoot for the cover of Polo Lifestyles in three
days’ time. It seems these days, the one thing that everyone has is plenty of time. As editor of Polo Lifestyles, I felt on more than one occasion, that it was my schedule holding the team back. I first spoke to Gilles on a Monday afternoon and scheduled a follow-up call with the photographer, Julian Dahl, for Tuesday afternoon. Before I could connect with Julian, Gilles was texting me, “Please, as soon as you can, give me a green light so I can complete the shooting schedule.” It was exactly at this point when I realized I wasn’t keeping up to Gilles’ page 79