We're about to let you in on a little secret: Coveteur shoots usually play out one of a couple ways. We've likely rushed over from an airport/meeting/previous shoot, out of breath but nonetheless bright-eyed, bushy tailed and dying to, uh, rummage through your stuff. Given the circumstances, there's a certain degree of all parties having to get comfortable reaaaaal quick with one another, and there are a few parameters that help speed that process considerably. The first, as in most situations, is unequivocally... alcohol. Coming in at a close second? It's not the trunks of archival Alaïa or the addition of a well-arranged cheese plate—they totally help, though—it's being welcomed in by the subject, clad in their jammies.*

We know it sounds weird—did they forget we were coming?—but in reality, it immediately sets the tone for the shoot and makes things that much more comfortable. Think: Bambi Northwood-Blyth, Veronika Heilbrunner and Justin O'Shea, Hugh Hefner. See? Way intimate. Ditto Aziza Azim and Masha Mitroshina, who welcomed us into their suite dans Le Royal Monceau in Paris in J.Crew and Wildfox PJs, respectively. And even though they changed—twice, actually—pretty much immediately once we got rifling through the suitcases on suitcases of Prada and Dolce that they'd toted along to Fashion Week, we were pretty much feeling right at home. Told ya so.

Once we were well-acquainted, we talked everything from favorite go-tos in New York (Sant Ambroeus, McNally Jackson, Café Gitane) and Paris (Montaigne Market, Caviar Kaspia, L’Entrecote) to Masha's baller customized Nikes and our mutual obsession with Aziza's pal Sandy Liang. If we hadn't known better, we could have sworn we were at a good ol' fashioned sleepover, except that by that point the girls had changed out of those jammies in favor of matching striped tees and cut-offs. If only all of our childhood sleepovers came complete with champagne and Valentino shoes, right?