Who will be the next big face of the SS17 season? Above you will see a google table from the SS 11 New York Fashion Week shows which I designed in an effort to answer that question for the SS17 season. This was a personal project of mine I coordinated with the help of about 6 other people. The objective was to provide an easy drop down menu to track the shows the girls walked and thus recognize the best new faces to watch as well as predict which models were being favored by designers and/or casting directors.
Since history often has a tendency to repeat itself, I thought the information from the SS17 shows might help predict the coming SS17 shows. Not all shows are included though, just the more influential ones.
So for a change of pace on the blog, I thought I'd plug in some quick analysis of the past in order to help foresee the future. What are the most directional shows for a model to walk at New York Fashion Week (and fashion month in general) and what makes those shows valuable for a model? Let's start with Calvin Klein, the legacy of campaigns which helped launch Kate Moss into stardom.
Calvin Klein SS17 basic break down as a predictor of the SS17 show:
21 different models/34 different looks. 2 models walked 3 different looks each 9 models walked 2 different looks each10 models walked 1 different look
Easy Facial Recognition--the girls wear little make historically, so a place in the Calvin Klein lineup will improve the booking chances for the SS17 campaign/editorial season.
2 different shows--There are 2 showings of the Calvin Klein show, so all key editors, stylists, and photographers usually attend. This quantity of attendees improves the chances that the models will be recalled for future bookings.
good model to look ratio/only 21 models for 34 looks--unlike other shows which have 1 model per look. The limited number of models improves the chances their face will be recognized for future bookings.
conclusions: repetition, key attendees, and proven track record make Calvin Klein a key show for models to walk
32% chance a model will walk the runway more than once. A repeat walk is worth more than a single walk because the repetition gives the editors another chance to recall the face. It's like a 2d go see.
two different shows reduces chances that a possible influential attendee does not get to see a key face.
Somebody behind the scenes at Calvin Klein chose Daphne Groeneveld to walk the runway 3 times. Look how well she fared afterward in the editorial/campaign season. Basically, if you see a girl walk Calvin Klein 3 times this SS17 season, the odds are good she will be a big name to follow.
Back to regular scheduled street style shots soon!
With the opening of the Metropolitan Museum's exhibition The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion starting today, the May issue of Vogue U.S.'s pages on Models Street Style, an April model-centric Harper's Bazaar, and a new fashion month Models Off Duty section at Teen Vogue.com, I felt it was appropriate to celebrate the possible re-emergence of the model as a fashion icon by sharing an entire week's worth of models street style.
What makes these photos special is that they will all be from the streets of New York, sans any fashion month flashbacks. Imagine jumping in front of a model on the street, pausing very briefly while you study the face behind the sunglasses and opening with, "Hey, you're Catherine McNeil!"
boots -- Bess dress -- Hervé Léger Bandage Dress in bag -- footwear purchased at Opening Ceremony
With fashion month just around the corner, I thought this interview I did with modeling industry icon Faith Kates would add some balanced insight into the world of modeling.
Faith Kates is a modeling industry legend. She started NEXT Model Management in 1989. Recently, we sat down to talk all things modeling. Needless to say, it was a great learning experience. Enclosed are few snippets from our conversation. And to Faith and the people at NEXT, thank you!
WHY THE SECOND SEASON IN A MODELS CAREER IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE FIRST
Faith: Realistically, there's so many girls that have gotten ruined because they come the first season, they're not ready to do those shows and they do them. And the second season they're like, 'but she couldn't walk last season.' You know our job as agents is to prepare these models to get them out there, so that they do their job perfectly. ...we want to get them out there and we want them to know how to walk. I always say if you can get them a couple of good shows so they have some confidence. Think about being young from Latvia...this is the first time you've ever been on airplane and you walk out from behind the stage. You walk out and you're in shoes this high (gestures to a 5" stiletto) and there's a thousand people looking at you with cameras flashing. Think about that very first moment. See that's the story you should start talking to the girls about is, 'What do you fee like?' So it's a lot easier to do that exact thing in a smaller show and then another show and another show and then by the time you get to Prada, you got it.
Craig: So you might not necessarily try and book her for all the big shows?
Faith: Exactly. The first season is important but the second season is more important. Because the first season, lets say you got all the shows. You've got to keep them the second time. It's easy to get the first time. Now you have to do the editorial. Now you have to be out there the whole time. Because your only new once. (pause)
You are only a new girl once.
...you have to really know how to pace it. You have to know what you'll be able to sustain and not sustain.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EDITORIAL IN A MODELS CAREER
Craig: How important is editorial?
Faith: Very important.
Craig: More important than campaigns?
Faith: It's all about VOGUE. If you are a VOGUE girl you are everywhere. Go into VOGUE magazine. You want to learn something, go in Vogue look at all the girls that are in the well. Go in Anna J, any one of them, Catherine, those are the girls that are doing all the campaigns. Those are girls that are in all the shows.
WHY GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH KEY PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE IMPORTANT
Faith: ...I think that in our world...when a girl starts, if you have one of the three or 4 really important photographers behind you, that's the girls that are making it. So if you have Steven Meisel, you have Mario Testino, you have a Craig McDean, you have a David Sims... you have one of those guys behind you, you're in.
Craig: So that's the goal then?
Faith: That's the goal.
Craig: Is that how you view your goal, moreso the photographer?
Faith: It is. You could walk in 1 show. I could get you to walk in Prada, you can walk in Gucci, you can walk in 1 show. But you didn't do good in that show. Or you know. You had the exclusive for the good show. I've seen girls have an exclusive to Prada and you never see them again. They weren't so great in the show. But at least if you are in a picture, it's out there. and it's out there for at least a couple of months and people keep seeing it. It's different. It's on the shelf its always there...with magazines while they're sitting out there, people are able to take them home and they keep looking and looking and looking at them....
Craig: The photographers are the key then?
Faith: The photographers and the magazines have all the power. Designers are important, don't get me wrong. They are very important. But I think it goes first with if you can get to the photographer. There are some girls that are really photographers girls.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF A MODEL LIKING CLOTHES AND FASHION AS A NECESSITY TO SUCCEED
Craig: Does a girl with a genuine appreciation for fashion and clothing fare better in this industry?
Faith: You don't have to care about clothes...I don't think you have to love clothes. I don't think you have to dislike clothes. I just think you have to know how to wear clothes and know what feels good and right on you.
Craig: But like a girl who can get in touch with the artistic aesthetic of a Yohji Yamamoto because she's interested in style?
Faith: I don't think that matters.
Craig: It doesn't matter?
Faith: Not at all. I don't think it matters at all. I think that girl understands better what, and appreciate more what she's wearing but I don't think that that makes her a better model or makes her any better at what she does because she understands the dress
ON TWO TYPES OF FAME FOR A MODEL
Craig: How important is press as opposed to campaigns, editorials in magazines, and runways to a models career?
Faith: It depends upon the model. So there's a "high fashion model" lets call her that's doing all the campaigns and doing Vogue and doing all the shows. It doesn't matter. Because for her, her bible is the editorial, the Vogues of the world, and doing runway.
Then there's a whole other group of girls that, they are famous because of the press. They probably were not really famous models. But they became famous because they dated somebody that was famous, they were in the right place at the right time, they dated a basketball player, there was something about them that made them famous.
...There's 2 different kinds of famous. There's fashion famous which is what every model, I hate to say it , aspires to. They aspire to being in the well of American Vogue, they aspire to being photographed by Craig McDean, and David Sims, Steven Meisel, photographers Bruce Weber, like that.
And then there are girls that you know that their dream was to be in Sports Illustrated or to be in Victoria's Secret. Its a very different kind of famous and its a different kind of fashion. So its completely different. So there's two types of fame.
ON THE INTERNET AND PRINT
Craig: ...how important is the internet going to be to a models career as opposed to print publications?
Faith: I think we've all been struggling through it for the last 7 or 8 years. I don't see the print magazine or the newspaper or even the written book going away. As hard as I try to read and kindle it was the same as turning the pages. I think the internet becomes important because every day you can change it.
I do believe that the print magazine never goes away. I don't think VOGUE ever goes. I think that they are going to do business a bit differently.
AND FINALLY: THE BIGGEST NAMES NEXT HAS DEVELOPED FROM SCRATCH
Craig: The biggest names you've developed from scratch?
Faith: Milla Jovovich, Molly Sims, Joy Bryant, Diane Kruger (the actress), Angie Everhart, Anja Rubick, Anna Jagodzinka, Catherine McNeil, and Jessica Miller.
Kyleigh Kuhn (Next, NY) came from California to New York to model. She made the move to Next Models after a meeting with Next's founder, Faith Kates. I had the chance to shoot Kyleigh when she was new to New York, fresh off a Bruce Weber set. What follows is an afternoon in the life of a top model, highlighting things that characterize Kyleigh: not a runway, not an editorial, not a campaign. Just Kyleigh, pure and simple.
2:00 planning/scheduling her next trip to Afghanistan for her charity work
her living room wall
a close up of a piece on her wall, she decorated it all herself
those are real gun bullets she found on the street in Williamsburg
2:30 Kyleigh gets ready for a trip to the local organic market. She's an avid reader, showcasing her books alongside one of her favorite rings and pair of shoes
2:35 checking out her appearance before heading out
2:37 which included a side trip to her bedroom. I couldn't help but notice these vintage figurine cars and match boxes
2:38 and then notice this bona fide Fire Bat hanging on her wall
2:40 and all her jewelry choices
2:41 my favorites
2:45 playing around with her vintage cabinetry
2:50 Kyleigh has an interesting selection of hats to choose from. They indicate her personality as much as her choice in books and vintage card deck.
3:00 she's off to the local organic market with her boyfriend
3:15 Kyleigh comes out with a baguette, fresh cherry tomatoes, aged parmesan cheese, baby arugula, baby spinach, lemons, and basil
3:30 Kyleigh/caught sneaking a cherry tomato
4:15 dinner is served Entree--olive oil, tomatos, basil, pasta asparagus--fried covered on low heat for 15 minutes simmered in real butter bread--both sides dipped in olive oil and pepper, oven baked for 8 minutes with goat cheese salad--baby arugula, baby spinach, fresh squeezed lemon juice mixed with olive oil, pepper, and aged shaved parmesan cheese
5:15 last but not least, Kyleigh unwinds for some alone time on her fire escape, curling up with Hemingway and peace and quiet.
From Spain, walked in a Victoria's Secret show in 2008, walked numerous shows in New York and Milan this past Feb. I hope to see more of Clara in her menswear inspired blazers in the future.
altamira, the ultimate resource for models street style
The oddest thing happened when I photographed Jandra. Some guy came up behind me and started shooting her too. Maybe he was equally humored by her, "I can run faster in heels" t-shirt. Hmmm. Somehow I doubt it. Anyway, she's just arrived in New York and ready to take on whatever contracts NEXT models can get her.
Okay, it's no secret that at The Fashion Spot, members compile lists of their favorite girls as a season progresses to see how many shows they opened, closed, and walked in total. Models.com took it upon themselves to organize the top 10 most active girls from information assembled at the fashion spot forums. The list is compiled from participation in shows from New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks.
Here are the top 10 most active girls with there being a 4 way tie for 5th place. Information attributable to models.com and The Fashion Spot forums.
Shih Han, one of the coolest dudes around Soho. I saw him going into the CFDA's, but didn't want to slow him down as it looked like he was in a real hurry. Today, no such look for him as I cornered him and his friend Christophe (NEXT models) on Spring and Crosby.
He is really one of the most down to earth conversationalists I have met in New York in a long time. So if you see him on the streets, don't hesitate to start a conversation with him. I'm sure he'll be dressed amazingly well.
You can see more of his work including images from Costume National and United Colors of Benetton, by clicking HERE then clicking on divisions, clicking on men, and proceeding to the last page.
Kate King (Canada/FORD, NY) walked Wang in her first season ever FW11
New York Fashion Week is here and from within the modeling industry, everyone's eyes are wide open to spot the next big face of the season. BCBG Max Azria on Day 2 will often set a precedent, followed by Alexander Wang on Day 3. The big question about Wang's show is, "Who will open Alexander Wang?" Wang has recently set a precedent with discovering The New Face of the season. I wish I could say it was me (ha) as he (Alexander Wang) often remembers me when I wear my Marc Jacob's silk georgette twill top with built in bow tie (shot his party at Paris Fashion Week wearing that and then a year later he recalled it), but alas reality sets in.
Wang wasn't always the hit wonder for models though. Up until he got the CFDA Top 10 nomination, he was casting more unknown girls. Taking a quick look at the history of who opened Alexander Wang therafter, this is what we get:
Is it any wonder with A-listers like Freja and Raquel opening in the past, that when a new face gets the first impression look in a show chalked full of A-list models and alpha editors now, the new face gains noteworthy public recognition in the modeling industry? Or when a new face walks the show at all for that matter...
Hang with me here for just a couple of more minutes. If you take a look at the other models who get cast for Wang, you will see a lineup full of A-listers. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see who The Real Queen of the Alexander Wang runway was. Which model has walked Alexander Wang MORE than any other model? So I went back in the archives at both style.com and vogue.com till they didn't have any older shows than SS17 and made a mini Runway IQ tracker which you can play with below.
What's the point of all this? Well as the saying goes, you are judged by the company you keep and if you are keeping company in Alexander Wang's line up, a designer celebrated by the CFDA and getting press left and right for his companies sales, you are in good company.
Lily Donaldson wearing a blazer by Helmut Lang. She was super cool. As I saw her approaching, I shouted out "Lilly" then paused..."I took your photo in Paris at the Alexander Wang party" she nodded her head, put her bags down and to the side, and smiled.
Rising Star from Ukraine Naty Chabanenko on left as seen here with her gal pal Vlada Roslyakova. Notice Vlada has what I think is a Canon Power Shot in tow. The next models street style photographer competitor?? Gasp!
Arizona Muse exiting the SS17 BCBG Max Azria show. She was virtually unknown at this time.
Want to know which show at New York Fashion Week will give the first clue as to who the next big face will be this season? Try BCBG Max Azria. It's on Day 2 of New York Fashion Week and comes before Marc Jacobs (mid week) and Calvin Klein (last day).
At this same time last season, Arizona Muse who was virtually unknown was already on Casting Director Russell Marsh's radar. She opened and closed BCBG Max Azria. Russell Marsh later cast Arizona for the SS17 Prada show and with Miucci Prada's final go ahead, Arizona Opened and Closed Prada.
A similar pattern of virtually prophetic insight by Casting Director Russell Marsh can also be understood by looking back at the SS17 and SS17 BCBG Max Azria shows. In SS17, Russell cast a virtually unknown Frida Gustavsson and Jacquelyn Jablonski. And for SS17, Russell cast a rookie face unknown to the public at the time named Constance Jablonski.
Granted, there are other shows and many other factors that contribute to a models runway success, but BCBG Max Azria because of it's place on the New York Fashion Week schedule on Day 2 is the perfect place to begin looking for at least one big new face, possibly the next Constance, Jacquelyn, or Arizona.
Be sure to check back on the blog on September 8/9th for an update from backstage at the BCBG Max Azria show as I've just been confirmed by PR!
She introduced me to Casting Director Angus Munro at London Fashion Week, she pointed out other models at Paris Fashion Week, she was in my exhibition for best dressed models off duty in September--Ruby Aldridge.
Andie Arthur (Ford, NY) should definitely walk the 2013 Victoria's Secret show. Here's why:
1. No one from FORD models walked the 2012 show.
2. Andie will be 18
3. Andie knows how to "sell the sizzle". By that I mean, just look at all her street style pictures. She always projects an amazing energy and charisma, which would translate to the runway and catalog, just the kind of personae Victoria's Secret needs representing it's legacy of entertaining Top Models. If she knows how to be "on stage" while Off Duty, she'll definitely know how to be "on stage" while On Duty (on the runway or TV interviews etc).
4. Andie is Social Media savvy. Not only do her Twitter and Instagram handles match, but interacts with her followers, connecting with them and giving them something to relate to.
In her interview with AmericanVogue.com, Bonnie Chen stated, "Leigh, my booker from Next, decided to take me on when nobody else wanted me in New York two years ago. Many people didn’t support my decision to model after college, and I was often told I looked too commercial. Leigh took out all the bad pictures from my book and told me: “Edgy models may catch the eye for one or two seasons, but beauty lasts forever. I like your energy and we should aim high."
So Bonnie has 3 Off Duty Booking Value Indicators in her favor: Persistence, Great Personal Style, and a following of 1.04 million on Weibo. You go Bonnie!
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