The first time I met Raquel Zimmerman in person was at the Alexander Wang intimate dinner during the March 2009 Paris shows. What I remember most from then is how eager she was to have her photo taken. Today proved no different.
In case you are wondering about the second photo down, while walking the streets, I usually wear a pair of noise cancelling headphones that attach to my i-phone. When taking Raquel's photo, the cable from my headphones came unplugged and was dangling towards the ground, which explains what she was pointing to as she thought something with my camera may have come unplugged.
Just a few days ago I was standing outside the casting for the Marc Jacobs show and my friend Dree Hemingway (cover Russian Vogue, Gucci campaign, LOVE editorial) walked by with her bleach blonde hair. Yesterday and just one post below, you can see the worlds #1 model Raquel Zimmerman in bleach blonde hair. And in this post today you can see Women Model Management icon Vlada with her bleach blonde hair.
Recently, Patrick Demarchelier shot a spread of like 15 girls for Fashion Night Out in which Raquel had bleach blonde hair so I'm not saying this is the first time any of these girls have worn their hair color as such. It is however interesting to note how pervasive bleach blonde hair is at the current moment among top models.
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.
