MODEL PROFILES: KATIE FOGARTY

Born on August 6^th 1992, Missouri native Katie Fogarty signed with NEXT Management at the age of 16. Having joined the blockbuster agency, Fogarty made her catwalk debut that September with appearances for Jill Stuart, Kenzo, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Ohne Titel, Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti and Prada.

The Prada show proved to be memorable, with Fogarty tripping up on the runway. The show, featuring the now-notorious 6” snakeskin heels, saw not only Fogarty struggle but several other models as well. Fogarty was helped to her feet by those in the front row, but after another trip, Katie had no choice but to remove the shoes and walk the rest of the circuit barefoot. It was a brave move for a new model and the footage created headlines across the world. Far from being a disaster for Katie, the moment scored her extra press attention, with both www.models.com and www.COACD.com featuring her as a top newcomer of the season.

Fogarty’s moment in the spotlight quickly translated into big-money campaigns with Balenciaga and Prada’s sister label, Miu Miu. The latter saw Katie model the Italian label’s beautiful pleated dresses – a trend that continues to have fashion momentum today. 

Appearing in editorials for Wonderland and Dazed & Confused, Katie’s next runway season grew to 44 shows including Brian Reyes, Chloe, Christopher Kane, Herve Leger, Jason Wu, Karl Lagerfeld, Missoni, Peter Jensen, Rebecca Taylor, Richard Nicoll and Valentino. As well as getting that all-important kudos from some of the biggest names in the business, Katie was a hit with fashion’s young talent, with Kane, Nicoll and Jensen all vying for her time.

Her successful season saw Fogarty lauded as a rising star by www.style.com and move into major editorial territory with appearances in V and Japanese Vogue. Katie made her couture debut in July, walking for Valentino. Her delicate features acted as the perfect complement to Valentino’s finely-spun take on femininity.

Katie landed another huge campaign in the autumn, this time for D&G. Photographed by Mario Testino, this was classic territory for Dolce & Gabbana’s diffusion label. Fun, exuberantly-styled clothes modelled against an opulent, stately home backdrop. With the off-setting of ‘old’ style language (headscarves, quilted jackets) on young models, D&G anticipated the trend for vintage-feel clothes several years before it became the norm. 

Katie’s stock rose even further in September with a massive 64-show season including the closing spot for the Roberto Cavalli show. Modelling for Chanel, DKNY, Erdem, Jonathan Saunders, Nina Ricci, Peter Pilotto and Thakoon, Katie was featured in some of the biggest collections of the season. Getting recognition from the American fashion press, Fogarty landed her first editorial for W in January 2010. Photographed by Craig McDean, ‘Run of Show’ included Elsa Sylvan, Frida Gustavsson and Hanne Gaby Odiele in a massive shoot featuring the season-defining looks from the best shows.

Now a runway regular, Katie appeared in the Autumn 2010 shows in February, in a smaller 33-show season. It was smaller for Katie, but of course, in the big picture, it was still a substantial total. Walking for Dolce & Gabbana, Giambattista Valli and Sonia Rykiel, it was a more niche season than the one before, with lots of newer designers in the mix including Prabal Gurung and Olsen sisters’ passion project, The Row.

Katie’s ability to take on the biggest campaigns continued in Autumn 2010, with an appearance in the Sonia Rykiel campaign with Anna de Rijk. Rykiel, a stalwart of the French fashion scene, shows the flip side of groomed Parisian chic. Rykiel takes her lead from the seamier aspects of Paris: it is not too big a leap to imagine the Sonia Rykiel woman in the Montmartre of Renoir, Van Gogh and Picasso. The feel of the brand is left-wing, artistic and free-wheeling, with a thread of naughtiness running through it. Katie and Anna get the tone of the campaign absolutely right with Rykiel sticking closely to her brand’s core values, proving that a successful campaign doesn’t necessarily need bells and whistles to grab our attention. 

In September, Katie returned to the runway with another massive RTW season including appearances for Balenciaga, Giorgio Armani, Peter Som and Reed Krakoff. Included in her list of new credits was a coveted spot in the runway line-up for designer Mary Katrantzou. This collection saw Mary go from hotly-tipped newcomer to fashion’s grande amour. Just three years ago, Mary was operating on the sidelines of high-fashion, but her fearless exploration of print has made Katrantzou a star. Her success is incredibly well-timed, as we’re all getting a little braver with our fashion choices, Mary’s way of seeing the world – a kaleidoscopic, joyful collision of pattern and colour – is not only deemed beautiful, but downright covetable.

Katie continued her association with fashion’s biggest names in early 2011 with a campaign for Barney’s department store. With stores dotted across the USA, the store has become a go-to destination for fashion’s brightest and boldest designs. The campaign follows suit, photographed by Juergen Teller, Nan Goldin and William Klein. Doing everything on a grand scale, Katie joined a slew of top models including Ming Xi, Mirte Maas, Karlie Kloss and Anja Rubik. Staged to look like a series of candid shots taken backstage at a runway show, the campaign makes itself the connecting link between runway and customer.

Following a challenging editorial for Chinese Harper’s Bazaar in February, Katie added beauty to her CV with a shoot in the March edition of Allure. ‘Spring Fling’, photographed by Greg Kadel, also features Ariel Meredith, Hannah Holman and Kate Spade’s newest campaign star, Anna Speckhart. Katie had already mastered fashion, but beauty can test even the most seasoned of runway girls. In this shoot, Katie looks cool, calm and totally on-game.

In September, Katie’s career went long haul with a trip to Australia. Working for Australian Vogue, she appeared in a major editorial plus the cover. The spread, ‘Night Watch’ saw Katie model sleekly gothic eveningwear. Each Vogue has its own personality, and Australia has a penchant for classic glamour. It might be surprising, coming from the country that as defined beach chic, but a lot of Aussie success stories are all in the field of glamour: Alex Perry, Colette Dinnigan, Alice McCall and Rachel Gilbert. Just like her long-standing association with Valentino, Katie is perfect for designers who deal in high-octane glamour. It’s a deceptively hard area to master: high-end modelling requires a subtlety that often takes years to get right. Glamour at this level is all about aspiration and creating that from scratch is no mean feat. Modelling glamour with a light touch to keep it sophisticated is a balancing act that requires confidence, poise and precision. 

Katie returned again to Australian Vogue in December with another editorial. ‘L’Afrique, c’est chic’ was an epic, multi-page shoot, featuring the tribal trend. Teeming with Aztec prints and vibrant colours, the shoot anticipates the surprise hit of the season. Shaking off its gap-year associations, tribal fashion has at last scored with consumers by playing up its adaptability: worn diluted (D&G, Stella McCartney) or in a more literal way (Kenzo), tribal fashion can be worn in endless translations. 

Its versatility makes tribal a core modern trend. The many ways it can be worn (even just an accessory can transform a neutral outfit) makes tribal a very contemporary way of exploring a trend. Its complex prints and colour palette put many off trying it for years, but its dilution on the high-street worked wonders, with consumers at last seeing its true potential. Tribal could well lead the way in how we digest fashion in the future: a trend that contracts or expands to suit us, but loses none of its impact however it’s worn, is nothing short of revolutionary. As we get choosier about where our fashion spend goes, a trend that offers serious mileage in terms of cost-per-wear is going to get our attention. Tribal may have started off as a micro trend, but its impact has been phenomenal. In making adaptability the focus of our fashion desires, thinking small could soon become the next big thing.

As Katie enters the next phase of her career, her ability to sell difficult trends puts her ahead of the pack. As fashion exits its ‘safe’ era and heads into new territories, boldly exploring print, colour and shape, the demand for models who can take the fear out of these designs will sky-rocket. Katie not only makes classic, familiar shapes look good, but can also work newer silhouettes in such a way that we feel we know them. Fashion that feels (and looks) like a friend is key to getting consumers to spend, when disposable income is at a low. The big surprise of the recession has been that fashion consumers don’t only want comfort, they want innovation. Individual pieces and limited editions have soared in popularity with new designers doing particularly well. The fact that we are buying these designs is empowering the fashion industry to create fashion that is bigger, better, stronger. Challenging the limits of what we wear, the future of fashion’s creative edge has never looked so good. 

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: KATRYN KRUGER

Born in Cape Town in 1995, South-African model Katryn Kruger may be a newcomer to the fashion industry, but she is already setting a new standard.

Katryn’s first introduction into modelling came courtesy of Prada in early 2011 modelling for their resort look-book. Kruger made her runway debut in October with an appearance for Givenchy. Walking for the French label as an exclusive, Kruger went on to work for Jalouse magazine with two consecutive editorials.

The first, ‘Top 8’ profiled new model talent including Caitlin Lomax, Isabella Melo and Anouk de Heer. The second, ‘Block Beauty’, saw Katryn take centre stage with a high-end beauty shoot. The theme was faces and themes of cinema: Katryn modelled looks that took inspiration from sources as diverse as Greta Garbo, Blade Runner and Bambi. The Garbo photo is a particular success with Kruger channelling the German star’s reluctant celebrity.

Taking on haute couture in January 2012, Kruger modelled for Elie Saab, Valentino, Giambattista Valli and Zuhair Muraud. With the obvious exception of Valentino, all the other couture houses are recent additions to the select group of couturiers working in Paris. Now with the appointment of Raf Simons to the post of artistic director at Dior, couture looks set to enter a new age of strong and fearless design. Simons, who up till recently worked as the creative director at Jil Sander, transformed a minimalist label into a byword for postmodern elegance. Taking on fashion’s toughest challenges, he gave minimal fashion the push it needed to move on from its Nineties roots. Neon cashmere and moulded hems, under Simons’ tutelage, became must-have items. Using new fabrics and techniques, Simons made the Jil Sander brand an esoteric delight: fashion packed with intelligent choices. His ability to take fashion to the forefront of innovation makes him a very exciting prospect when it comes to taking on Dior Couture. With its extensive history, the temptation to stay in the retro comfort zone is understandable. But with the hiring of Simons, the only logical progression for Dior is forward. With Simons’ first couture collection due in July, the small world of haute couture is about to get a whole lot bigger.

Katryn hit the ready-to-wear catwalks in February, with numerous appearances for some of the world’s biggest names. Walking for Louis Vuitton, Chloe, Roland Mouret, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan, Kruger’s first major season was a virtually perfect template of a top model’s booking sheet: all the must-book labels are accounted for, with edgier new talent also included.

In March, Katryn made her first appearance for V magazine, working with photographer Benny Horne. The spread, ‘Trophy Club’, sees Kruger model sportswear. A side-trend perfect for those not swayed by the girlish glamour served up by Louis Vuitton, this luxurious take on sportswear makes it an attainable look for those who like their fashion a little more casual.

Kruger’s next booking was anything but casual – following her earlier work with the Italian label, Kruger (still a relative newcomer to the industry) was hired to take part in both the campaign and video for Prada’s Spring / Summer collection.

Already a hit on the runway, the crowd-pleasing collection was represented by both established names and some less familiar. Working with photographer Steven Miesel were Natasha Poly and Guinevere van Seenus, along with newcomers Elise Crombez, Meghan Collison and Ymre Stiekema. The eclectic mix of beauty, from Natasha’s all-out glamour to Meghan’s quirky cool, was an unusual choice but a choice that turned out to be inspired casting.

With everyone wearing the 50’s inspired pieces, the cohesive quality of the campaign draws you in. There is not a wasted moment in this campaign: every look and every gesture adds flavour and piquancy to an already well-received collection.

The campaign video also works on the same principles, with the models coolly eyeing each others’ garb at a gas station. Packed with references to classic Americana, the video is a love-letter to everything great about retro-fashion. The duster coats, the have-to-look-twice printed dresses – all perfectly handled, but at the same time, nothing here feels dated. With the use of contemporary music including Sleigh Bells and Ariel Pink, Prada have hit a home run, with a campaign video that is proving to be extraordinarily popular. So far it has clocked up over 300,000 hits on YouTube. To put this in perspective, Prada’s campaign video for Spring / Summer 2011 has been viewed 32,000 times.

In the video, Kruger gets the lion’s share of the camera’s attention, her classic features sitting perfectly in the retro feel of the campaign. Kruger is the main focus at the end of the video – as coveted as an opening or closing spot in a runway show, Kruger makes a lasting first impression, with a performance that is assured and confident. It would be an accomplished debut for any model, and a star-making move at that, but it is remarkable when watching Katryn to think that you are watching a 16-year-old with minimal modelling experience.

Kruger’s appearance for the Prada S/S 12 campaign has made her a name, not only among the hundreds of thousands of fans viewing on YouTube, but within the fashion industry itself. Her latest work, an editorial for Interview, again shows that Kruger may be young but has the potential to become an international star.

Wearing Stella McCartney’s latest collection, Kruger’s ease at modelling what is a challenging body of work invites us to draw direct comparisons with other models. Kruger’s phenomenal rise is down to more than just her perfectly-set classic features: no face, no matter how beautiful, would be enough to secure you a booking with Prada. The Italian powerhouse label regularly take chances on new models, but every one of those models ends up becoming a name because Prada know how to draw out talent. Looks are no longer enough in an industry where perfection is the norm: you have to have something else to offer. Recent success stories such as Karlie Kloss, Lindsey Wixson and Arizona Muse show exactly how modelling is not a game of luck, but a game of skill, and how some come to the table with a more defined skills-set than others. Muse’s endlessly adaptable face; Lindsey’s unforced quirkiness and Karlie’s agility all make them one-of-a-kind. The things that should make them not ‘work’ are of course the reasons why Wixson, Kloss and Muse are so enormously successful. Karlie’s dance background, Muse’s statement eyebrows and Wixson’s dollhouse pout should, in theory, rule them out of modelling at the highest levels – but each of them has excelled without compromising what makes them unique.

Already on the ascent, Kruger’s unique selling point is easy to figure: a fearless approach to runway and campaigns with a commercially-friendly face. Equipped with these advantages, Katryn’s next career move could be in any direction. Just like Arizona Muse who made a huge impact on an unsuspecting fashion industry back in 2010, Kruger has the type of face that can apply itself to any type of design philosophy, and adaptability sells. With the potential to go anywhere from Italian Vogue to Victoria’s Secret (and everywhere in-between), Kruger is redefining the standards of what it takes to break away from the pack and become that rising star. With a stellar career in progress, the only direction for Katryn Kruger is up.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: SARA BLOMQVIST

Discovered whilst attending a horse show in 2007, Swedish-born Sara Blomqvist has been one of fashion’s stealth stars.

Born April 8^th 1989, Sara signed with agency Viva in Paris the same year. Debuting on the international runway circuit that September, Sara appeared for Aquascutum, Christopher Kane, Dries van Noten, Jonathan Saunders and Vanessa Bruno. A hit in both Paris and London, Sara made an even bigger impact in Milan, agreeing to walk in the Prada show as an exclusive.

The Prada connection was enough to get Sara started: booking a Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti campaign for early 2008 got her noticed by the fashion press, with www.hintmag.com featuring her as a rising star.

In February 2008, Sara took to the runway again, this time opening shows for both Christopher Kane and Armand Basi. Website www.models.com featured Sara as a Top 10 Newcomer. A regular fixture of fashion weeks, making the list is as much a rite of passage as a cover of Vogue.

The internet has seen an explosion of interest in models, as runway clips and campaign shoots routinely get commented on and dissected. The freedom of expression brings fashion to a whole new audience, who can without censorship, discuss the hottest new face or that controversial cover choice. The influence of the internet is such that names can be made virtually overnight, with even the briefest of nods from the right website. Now an institution, www.models.com definitely falls into that category.

Sandwiching in some editorial work for Numero and Amica, Sara had her first booking with Interview magazine in September 2008. Working with Freja Beha Erichsen, and photographed by Mikael Jansson, it was a smart choice for Blomqvist.

Magazines like Interview, V and Numero have worked hard to separate themselves from the bigger names of Elle, Marie Claire and Vogue. Just as fashion needs diversity to grow and thrive, the publications it appears in need to be equally wide-ranging. The fact that there is such an appetite for alternative views on fashion puts magazines – and the models they choose to showcase – at a very strong advantage.

Blomqvist’s hold on fashion’s directional design houses was rapidly becoming a given, but Sara was still capable of surprising everyone. In 2009, she was announced as the new face of Armani Jeans. Photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Armani was already starting to think outside the box when it came to hiring models. Their experiment in using an edgy face to sell a blockbuster brand was a bold, game-changing strategy. Currently represented by Milou van Groesen, Armani has proved itself way ahead of its competitors, hiring Sara a whole two years before Versace booked face-of-the-moment, Saskia de Brauw.

September 2009 saw Blomqvist step up in terms of her runway hits, including several opening and closing spots with Jonathan Saunders, Missoni, Christopher Kane, Sportmax and Miu Miu. Her other credits included Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Jaegar, Lanvin, Mark Fast, Mulberry, Paul Smith, Prada, Richard Nicoll, Rue du Mail, Valentino and YSL. It was a curious mix of heritage labels plus early collections from Kane, Fast and Nicoll – the new names on the circuit that would become major industry players.

The high esteem in which Sara was held translated into further editorial bookings, including Russian Vogue in April, Japanese Numero and French Vogue in May and her first Italian Vogue shoot in June. Photographed by Steven Meisel, ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ was a heady, stylised vision of Euro nightlife featuring Meghan Collison, Anna de Rijk and Nimue Smit. Sara was rapidly becoming an international commodity.

In February 2010, Sara had her biggest ready-to-wear season to date with over 64 appearances. The A/W collections were an important marker in fashion’s recent history, with Marc Jacobs producing his ‘back to neutral’ show; Burberry piloting aviator jackets and Prada and Louis Vuitton exploring the best of the 1950’s. It was a season that sold us on new winter textures and the beauty of retro shapes. Blomqvist appeared in some of the big shows of that season including Burberry, Prada and Louis Vuitton. If Blomqvist ever needed reassurance that she had made it, this was the season that proved her worth.

The mammoth RTW season in February saw Sara switch to Paris in July for her very first couture season. Walking for Valentino and Chanel, you simply could not wish for a better initiation in the world of haute couture.

Blomqvist expanded on her couture experience in January 2011 with further appearances for Chanel and Valentino, plus Elie Saab. Sara’s career also came full circle in Spring 2011 with an appearance in the Prada Fantasy lookbook. Sara found herself working with Prada alumni Mariacarla Boscono, plus Jessica Stam, Lindsey Wixson, Ginta Lapina and Jourdan Dunn.

This was the ‘swirls and stripes’ collection – in theory, a ‘hard-sell’ collection, Prada smartly traded on its quirkiness. In its decision not to shy away from the collection’s complexity, Prada made difficult fashion feel fresh, modern and totally of the moment. It became the defining image of Spring / Summer 2011: playful, exuberant and full of natural energy. Enthusiasm can never be faked with any degree of success – the lookbook joins the accompanying campaign and video in being genuinely excited about new ways of wearing print. The stripes and swirls worn side by side were Prada’s nod to our growing confidence in trying new ways of wearing old favourites. Stripes are as perennial a Spring / Summer favourite as it’s possible to get, but paired with baroque swirls, they look anything but old hat.

Sara continued to be a great draw for both cutting-edge and more mainstream labels in September with a 57-show season, and then in Autumn, she made her campaign debut for Valentino.

Working with Ruby Aldridge, Kim Dall Arni and Caroline Brasch Nielsen, this collection sees Valentino return to its vintage roots, with high collars and long sleeves. Valentino’s career was kick-started when his early designs were picked up by a recently-widowed Jacqueline Kennedy, and it’s not hard to trace the lineage of this Italian luxury label to its recent collections: glamour with a sophisticated leading edge.

In December, Sara booked a special campaign with H&M, celebrating the release of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. The recent influence film has had on fashion has ranged from more casual attire (Bella, ‘Twilight’) to extreme body jewellery getting a mainstream boost. Rooney Mara in her role as Lisbeth Salander seems an unlikely style icon, but her uncompromising role has sparked a huge surge of interest in fashion’s darker persona. Body jewellery that was usually reserved for specialist shops can now be bought in the most prolific high-street stores. It seems that when it comes to our fashion choices, we’re not only getting braver, we’re getting a little darker too.

Sara finished the year with yet more runway work, this time appearing in the Pre-Fall show for Chanel. The resort / pre-fall collections are gaining in importance: as fashion moves ever faster, two main collections per year just aren’t enough to satisfy our appetite for newer, bolder designs. As well as being a pre-cursor, nudging us towards the upcoming trends, these smaller collections allow designers the space to explore their ideas on a different scale.

Jason Wu’s 2012 pre-fall collection, for example, was a wonderful extension of his previous ideas: his love for florals became an altogether different species when hung against the backdrop of sharp, gothic lines. Highly successful in its own right, Wu’s bold new vision was already claiming red-carpet space months before his A/W line was unveiled.

Sara began 2012 itself with another strong RTW season, perhaps her most eclectic season to date, with bohemian labels like Kenzo and Dries van Noten rubbing shoulders with the high-glamour vision of Dolce & Gabbana.

Also featuring in prolific editorials for Love and American Vogue, Blomqvist stretched herself even further with a beauty spread for ‘Another’ magazine. ‘Pastels and Metallics’ takes a look at the pastel super-trend, but in coming at it from the beauty perspective, tricky shades of lilac and peach become wearable, with delicate washes of colour on the eye, muted lips and brighter statements on the nails. Editorials like this show how a fashion trend can be put within everyone’s reach.

The most recent editorial appearance made by Sara proves to be the most enlightening. Another niche publication, ‘The Last Magazine’, features Blomqvist in an article featuring behind-the-scenes photographs from New York Fashion Week. The twist is that Sara is the photographer, taking snaps of her fellow models including Kate King and Othila Simon. Sara, a keen photographer in her down-time, takes photos from rehearsals and backstage, adding comments, which neatly tell the story of the real experience of being a model at Fashion Week. It is a scenario that Blomqvist herself is extremely familiar with: lots of waiting around and crowded, frantic preparations.

Her interest in photography isn’t surprising: a good model needs to be a sharp-eyed observer; taking in detail and nuance for runway shows and complicated editorials. The fact that many models have gone behind the lens (famously including Helena Christensen and Tyra Banks) draws parallels between being observed and also the need to observe. Five years into what has been an incredible career, Blomqvist must also be thinking of her next move, and photography seems like the logical step for someone who has made her name on being both deeply intuitive and fiercely intelligent. Modern in both style and approach, Sara represents fashion’s next chapter: bravery, diversity and innovation.

HELEN TOPE