This romantic couples photoshoot in London fell together like it was meant to be. Karolina is the incredibly talented independent lingerie designer of Karolina Laskowska Lingerie, and her partner Andrew had an effortlessly cool vibe to match. I’ve known about Karolina’s work for ages, but we’d never had the chance to meet, so I was beyond please when this went on the calendar.
A Dark, Moody Hotel with Serious Character
This location is over the top – it has to be one of London’s most unique hotel rooms.
Pros and cons though, because I’m barely exaggerating when I say it’s so dark in there you can barely see your own hands. Deep red walls, no overhead lighting, rich textures everywhere. It gave the whole shoot a theatrical, almost “Romeo and Juliet” quality that I loved. The hair game was strong too, with Karolina’s incredible mermaid-length hair and Andrew’s curls. I’ve decided to call the aesthetic of this shoot “Capulet Cool.”
Because Karolina is a real life lingerie designer, she brought all her own pieces for the shoot. There’s something magical about the craftsmanship and effort that goes into bespoke clothing. In my dreams, the matriarchy rises, we get the best case scenario with AI, and we all magically have the means and occasions to wear couture. And obviously the creatives flourish.
Two Looks, One Incredible Shoot
For the first look, Karolina wore this stunning sparkly blue ensemble. It’s a custom design from her Ephyra collection and if you’d like a set of your own, it will be available soon at Jane’s Vanity. The blue and red is a colour combination I’ve never really considered before, but I love how it turned out here.
I always like to get a few individual images during a couple’s shoot. As Andrew mentioned on set, the wardrobe options for men are often kind of boring and basic. We need to get more creative with this. My hope is that as I do more couples shoots (I swore off them for years bc creepers lol), we’ll stumble on some great ideas for the men. For now, we did topless, a white button down, and a jacket, and he looks fab in all three.
We moved to the second look, which I could not have planned better if I tried.
Sometimes things just fall into place, and this was one of those shoots. I had no idea what Andrew even looked like until he turned up. I didn’t know what clothing they were bringing, and I certainly didn’t know there was going to be an honest-to-God, actual Catholic-style confessional in the room!
But then the pair of them turned up looking like Shakespearean beauties, Karolina brought the most perfect chantilly lace corset with a matching capelet and amazing red stockings that made everything feel modern and unapologetic, and we used a phone to light the cross on the confessional (Andrew’s idea!). It’s edgy and forbidden and delicious, if I do say so myself.
No I in Team
What I loved most about this session was how collaborative it felt. It’s easy to get sucked into a competition mindset, but at the top, no one is competing – we are collaborating. It’s an honour to be part of a team on that wavelength.
As usual, I mixed natural light with flash for this shoot. I did all the black and white conversions with lots of big, gritty grain, which suits the mood perfectly. And towards the end, I wanted to capture Karolina’s cream look in a variety of ways, so we played around with some different options to create range.
Your Romantic Couples Photoshoot in London
If this session has you thinking about booking a romantic couples photoshoot in London, I would love to hear from you. Whether it’s an anniversary, a celebration, or just because, a couples session with me works exactly like my solo boudoir shoots: same experience, same attention to detail, same editorial approach – just with two of you! We always do a pre-shoot consultation, professional hair and makeup, expert coaching and guidance, etc. The aim is a set of images that feel like they belong in a magazine, and that thrill you half to death.
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Karolina + Andrew, you were an ABSOLUTE PLEASURE to work with. Please let’s do this again!
