Joy Womack modelling Cloud & Victory’s scalloped lace ballet skirt in diamond.

I met Joy in Hong Kong, when we came together to collaborate on Cloud & Victory’s fall/winter campaign. It was amazing – a clothing designer from Singapore and an American dancing in Russia converging in a special administrative region of China. We had fun together – talking, shooting photos, eating. I certainly don’t claim to be a close friend of hers: a few days is too short for that. But we empathized with each other and found we shared some common ground, despite differing in circumstance and personality.

I’d chatted briefly with Joy before the proverbial shit hit the fan (pardon my French). She told me about some of the difficulties she was facing, and I faced a moment of genuine helplessness at my inability to make things better for her, somehow, someway.

Make no mistake – she is a survivor. But she is ultimately a good-hearted young lady who simply wants to dance to the best of her ability. And the fact of the matter is that the hyper-competitive, cutthroat world of Russian ballet concedes no allowances to good hearts.