[3] MARANELLO || C. LECLERC

EIGHTEEN

»»——⍟——««

CAMILLE

"These are looking amazing, Camille!" Louis' voice was just audible over the bustling sounds coming from the garages beside us, as I stood in the centre of the quiet pit lane. With a sparkly blue dress covering my upper half and the top of my thighs, I wore a pair of heels on my feet with a sparkly black pair of thigh-high stockings over them. This outfit was an aspect of my Barcelona range, with the clothes more suitable for a party being dropped initially, with other pieces revealed later in the year.

I smiled at my photographer, before bending down slightly so that I was closer to the ground. With my hand above my face to block out the sun, I looked directly into Louis' camera, a neutral expression on my face. I loved my job so much, especially now that I had the opportunity to showcase my own clothing designs whilst incorporating my passion for travelling the world into it. With Charles, Max and DIlara surrounding me, I felt so overwhelmed and so proud of myself to finally be able to begin this campaign. The long hours of planning and preparation, enduring meetings with different designers and even members of the FIA to ensure that all of my images would be shot correctly on track and in accordance with their guidelines, was so worth it. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be experiencing this right now.

I noticed Dilara walking around me slowly, her phone in front of her face as she took what I assumed to be a video. I could see the smile on her face as I looked into her camera with a grin. Max and Charles stood together, a little closer to the side of the pit wall, yet their faces were still covered by beautiful smiles. I was so ecstatic and tears almost spilled out of my eyes as I watched the happiness which radiated between us.

"You're so beautiful, mon amour," Charles sounded a little breathless as his words pulled me from my concentrated state. I glanced at him with a smile on my face, noticing the tears which brimmed at the front of his eyes. "God you're so beautiful. I'm so proud to call you my fiancée."

"Stop it, you'll make me cry and I'll ruin my makeup!" I giggled, shaking my head as I hurried to Louis' side, scanning my eyes across the hundreds of different images we'd spent the past two hours shooting in the pit lane. This outfit was the final one, and part of me was relieved, but I'd loved every second of this photoshoot.

"They're absolutely amazing, Camille," Louis nodded patiently as I looked through every picture quickly, smiling wider as I passed them all. "I'll sort them out immediately and make sure that they're all ready on the website for the release. I'll send some across to you for your Instagram, too."

--

The following day, only a matter of hours after half of my Barcelona collection with Calvin Klein went live, I found myself sitting in Red Bull's hospitality building with Dilara. The amount of support I'd already received from my fans and followers on Instagram, along with my family and friends, was so amazing and I couldn't believe it. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

"Items are almost sold out already," I sighed, locking my phone after checking a text message from Sara. I lifted my eyes up to meet Dilara's. I felt so overwhelmed. "I know I only released half of the collection now, but I can't believe it. I'm so excited to properly begin releasing full collections."

"It's all so amazing," Dilara held my hands between hers. "We are all so proud of you. Max can't shut up about how proud he is."