This story took a very unexpected twist.

Last summer on June 15, 2009 Jane went into New York City on assignment for Swarovski to photograph the making of Michael Jackson’s Swarovski crystal studded outfits—to be worn on his comeback tour in London later in the year.  MJ’s attire was created by Zaldy Goco, the famous fashion designer in his NYC Garment District studio housed in the classic Chelsea Hotel.

Jane shot Zaldy and his staff as they put together the jacket which would contain some 300,000 Swarovski crystals worth $1.6M.  Nadja Swarovski, who led efforts to promote Swarovski crystals in the music and fashion industry, was on hand to check out Zaldy’s work on Jackson’s jacket and pants.

Ten days later on June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson died.

Fast forward to March 2010…a week ago Jane and I finally saw  “This is It”–the movie made in the aftermath of Jackson’s death–in which Zaldy’s talking about at length (see special feature “The Gloved One”) about making Jackson’s outfits–that footage was actually shot during Jane’s still shoot by Magic Bullet Media out of New York.  You can also see Zaldy talking about his work with Michael Jackson after MJ’s death on this YouTube video.  Zaldy’s fame continues to grow with his work for high profile clients such as Lady Gaga.

MJ’s relationship with Swarovski started years earlier–the signature crystal studded white glove from the early 80s…loaded with Swarovski crystals. Michael Jackson seems as topical as ever and is following Elvis into posthumous super-stardom with his record $250M deal just announced.

To see more images of this shoot please visit our commercial website www.photojane.com.