MODEL PROFILES: MARIE PIOVESAN

Born in France in 1985, Marie Piovesan signed with Marilyn Agency in 2011, at the age of 26. She debuted at Fashion Week in October the same year, appearing for YSL and Miu Miu, also opening the Celine show.

In December, she finished her inaugural year with an editorial for Interview magazine. ‘Reed Krakoff’ was a profile piece, exploring the new American must-have label. A recent addition to the international fashion scene, it has been typified as an alternative to Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren’s vision of high-end luxury. Reed Krakoff explores luxurious textures but in a postmodern way, defying the expectation that ‘luxury’ fashion can’t be edgy or daring. 

Marie made her couture debut in January 2012, walking in the Spring / Summer Valentino show. Within the space of a few months, Piovesan would prove that couture, either by label or by attitude, would be her true comfort zone. Having a face that lends itself readily to directional fashion, Marie comes equipped with the skills necessary to embody and translate that most difficult of sartorial genres.

In February, Marie conquered RTW, with a massive season of 40 shows. All the biggest labels booked Marie including Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton and Valentino. Piovesan was also a ready favourite with newer labels such as Haider Ackermann. Autumn 2012 looks set to be a season celebrating the dark arts, with artisan touches from Marc Jacobs and Valentino in particular, with Jacobs’ models trawling the catwalk in huge Dr.Seuss-style hats courtesy of milliner Stephen Jones. The palette for A/W 2012: black, grey with splashes of dark green and maroon may be perfect for a money-spinner season, but its heart is rooted in something bigger. The best collections combined wearability with broad strokes of creativity, again, disproving the theory that the two have to be mutually exclusive. 

Marie’s association with high fashion’s quirky side continued with an editorial for ‘Love’ magazine.  Shot in video format, ‘Fan Club’ (directed by Ruth Hogben), pays homage to the chorus lines of 1940’s Hollywood musicals. Featuring Ajak Deng, Kati Nescher, Hye Park and Aymeline Valade, the video profiles the Louis Vuitton blockbuster collection. Love it or hate it, its range of influence this summer is everywhere. 

Deceptively coy, but full of charm, the collection is rapidly coming to define Spring / Summer 2012.

Marie’s skills in ‘real time’ modelling continued into February with an editorial for www.models.com. The short film, ‘Committed’, acts as a showcase for new talent including Codie Young, Isabelle Melo and Kelly Mittendorf. Showing that you can model in ‘real time’ is becoming as important as how you perform in still photographs. As fashion employs new media to promote itself, moving well on camera is now a key skill for any new model. 

In March, Piovesan made her Italian Vogue debut, not only getting a leading editorial but the cover of its famous couture supplement. The intersection where art and fashion meet, this is justifiably what Italian Vogue is known for. Its international reputation for translating couture and showing it at its best is well-established.

The editorial, ‘The Lady in Spring’, is Vogue Italia’s interpretation of the ladylike trend. Featuring epic, pleated gowns from Dior; Valentino’s obsession with lace and Armani Prive’s smart play on textures, this is an editorial designed to stimulate thought as much as desire. 

While some editorials let themselves wash over you, others pointedly make you stop and demand you look closer.  The complexity of the styling insists that we take a moment to ‘read’ the clothes the way we would read a book; taking in every detail and nuance. Italian Vogue not only respects haute couture, it knows that in order to appreciate it, you must understand it. Sometimes criticised for being inscrutable, haute couture is only too willing to offer up its secrets if you give it a chance. Couture may be complex, but it can also be immensely rewarding; it isn’t about indulgence, but exploration. The recent innovations reaching the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival – diaphanous skirts attached to beaded bodices; daring cutaways and beautifully evocative prints – every one of those concepts started life as a couture design. What once seemed outlandish now seems both covetable and beautiful.

Marie’s performance in the Italian Vogue editorial is extraordinary, but not obtrusive; it adds another layer of meaning to the image rather than distract us from the clothes. Sometimes couture demands drama from its model, at other times, it needs a more subtle finish. Marie provides the latter with a sophistication that only really comes from ‘getting’ what the designer is trying to say. Knowing photographers and editors is all part of a model’s job, but if you don’t engage with what you’re being asked to wear, the resulting performance might be good, but it won’t be great.

Squeezing in a conceptual beauty editorial for the March edition of Interview, Marie then got her moment in the spotlight when she was hired to represent Celine in their Spring / Summer campaign.

Photographed by Juergen Teller, the campaign plays against the label’s previous incarnation under Michael Kors, whose creative directorship steered the brand into becoming a byword for super-luxurious glamour. When Phoebe Philo took over the reins in 2008, after her highly successful stint at Chloe, the label became a very different animal. Since Phoebe’s signing, Celine has evolved into an exercise in studied luxury. It was a radical switch from the Kors-esque glamour to a more loosely-drawn, modern interpretation of what luxury means.

Marie in this campaign wears the white shirt-dress that is the kingpin of the entire collection. The simple shape, the impeccable tailoring are by definition luxurious (the shirt-dress doesn’t come cheap), but it is a very new way of wearing high-end fashion. Celine is still about luxury; as much as it ever was, but now, the genius is not on show, but behind-the-scenes. 

Piovesan’s affiliation with ground-breaking fashion continues with an incredible multi-page shoot for the April issue of Interview. Photographed by Fabien Baron, ‘Goya’, is an unapologetically epic shoot featuring the very best of this season’s RTW and couture. Styled to the nth degree with grand silhouettes and supersized jewellery, the editorial is named after the Spanish artist who made his name exploring the grotesque and disturbing. Goya’s unsettling but intimate portraits, including ‘The Mourning of the Duchess of Alba’ (1797), are clearly the inspiration for the editorial. With the Duchess wearing metres of black Spanish lace, she is poised, self-assured with plenty of attitude – an early example of what’s required when modelling couture. 

Tracing its roots back through 18^th and 19^th century art, couture has been the status symbol of choice for art’s wealthy patrons. With ready-to-wear clothing not available until the 1920’s, society portraits painted by Thomas Gainsborough and later John Singer Sargent, made the clothes the main event. Gainsborough made his fortune by conveying the delicate nature of lace and silk – committing these fabrics to canvas provided the ultimate challenge for the ambitious painter. John Singer Sargent, who painted portraits of New York’s emerging elite, also made light work of the new fashions being worn. The velvet sensuality of his ‘Portrait of Madame X’ (1884) compared to the cotton pinafores of ‘The Daughters of Edward Darley Bolt’ (1882), are prime examples of how fashion has always been in the spotlight. The sitters may draw you in, but the real work is in the fabric: getting brushstrokes to resemble silk can only be done by a master. Nearly 90 years after Sargent’s death, the brush has been replaced by a camera and the likes of Meisel, Testino and Demarchelier are continuing to carry the torch. 

What is evident from looking at the Goya editorial is that Marie Piovesan understands that she is the sitter, and the dress the star. She injects a sense of history into her work that gives her modelling, whether it is on the runway or in front of a camera, a greater depth and substance. Blessed with a face that is traditional as it is modern, Piovesan’s gift to the fashion industry is in reminding it of where it came from. Once a pleasure for the privileged few; dressing fashionably is now accessible for billions of people. In the space of 200 years, we’ve viewed fashion from a painter’s perspective to the global lens of YouTube: however it is interpreted, fashion continues to thrive because it continues to learn from its past. The never-ending narrative of fashion may be told differently, but the message is always the same: a good model and photographer work the stage for our applause, but ultimately it’s fashion that takes the encore.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: KARMEN PEDARU

Born May 10th 1990, Karmen Pedaru’s career is testament to how paying your dues can really pay off.

Discovered in 2005 at a drama theatre in Tallinn, the Estonian-born model signed with NEXT Models the following year. Appearing for Teen Vogue in June 2006, Karmen debuted at Fashion Week that September, walking for Christopher Kane, Marni and Emporio Armani.

Skipping the February 2007 season, Pedaru returned to the runway in September 2007 opening the shows for Louise Gray and Biba. Also walking for Collette Dinnigan, Louis Vuitton and Stella McCartney, Karmen’s stock was on the rise.

In February 2008, Karmen’s growing confidence on the runway was rewarded with a stellar season, appearing for Donna Karan and Marc Jacobs in New York, in addition to being picked to open shows for Dries van Noten and YSL in Paris.

Her breakout season was noted by the fashion press, with both www.models.com and www.style.com dubbing Karmen a top newcomer. Karmen’s success on the runway translated into credible editorial work, with a spread in Numero photographed by Greg Kadel, and a layout for V, shot by Mario Testino.

In July, Karmen made her debut on the couture catwalks, walking for Chanel, Givenchy, Valentino and Dior. Getting to model couture is an integral part of building that envy-inducing CV. The requirements for haute couture are very specific, but once you’re in, you’re in. The ‘look’ of a couture label tends to be more fixed than its ready-to-wear counterpart. Couture forms the ‘essence’ of the brand, so some elements stay in place for nearly every collection, such as white for Chanel, and red for Valentino. Therefore the faces that wear these looks don’t have to be hired and dropped in such quick rotation. Couture doesn’t just build relationships with its clients; it builds lasting links with its models too. American model Karlie Kloss has been the face of Dior for the past two years because she is one of Galliano’s couture favourites. This has led to Karlie becoming one of the most in-demand models working today. Couture is very much a niche market: corner it, and the search for work becomes that little bit easier.

Karmen experienced this domino effect for herself in September 2008 when she was photographed for Numero magazine by Karl Lagerfeld, just a few months after her debut on the catwalk for Chanel Couture.

The couture connection continued with a shoot for Italian Vogue. Karmen, photographed by Miles Aldridge, appeared in Valentino Couture. A deceptively simple shoot, the heavily-worked couture demanded a focussed performance. It would be a tough ask for a more established model, but Karmen’s quietly assured performance showed the industry she was ready to take on more.

Her ready-to-wear season in September was another triumph, with opening show honours from DKNY, Jonathan Saunders and Rue du Mail. Closing the show for Nicole Farhi and Temperley in London, Pedaru also walked for Alberta Ferretti, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Isabel Marant, Proenza Schouler and Roberto Cavalli – a truly eclectic mix of blue-chip and cutting-edge labels that have come to form the basis of Pedaru’s career.

In early 2009 she was announced as the face of Missoni’s diffusion label and was photographed for the D&G spring campaign by Mario Testino. Following another couture season in January, it was announced that Karmen would become the first model to represent the Derek Lam label in a campaign, to be shot by Solve Sundsbo.

Pedaru walked again in the Autumn / Winter couture season in July, adding Armani Prive to her list of credits. Ending the year with a blockbuster RTW season, and the Autumn / Winter cover of French Revue de Modes, 2010 would manage to eclipse the extraordinary run of success Karmen found in 2009.

In February’s A/W 2010 season, Pedaru signed up for an incredible 55 shows. She opened shows for Tommy Hilfiger, Alberta Ferretti, Dries van Noten and Burberry. Karmen’s placing as the opener (and closer) of the Burberry show would prove to be a pivotal moment in her career. Christopher Bailey’s take on aviator chic proved to be the defining image of the season. Karmen’s photo cropped up time and again in the press, and as the season gathered accolades as one of the best for a decade, Pedaru’s photo became one of the important fashion images of the year.

Karmen’s profile unsurprisingly went through the roof, with editorials for French and Italian Vogue in April; the cover of Japanese Numero in June and the announcement in late summer that Pedaru would become the face of Emporio Armani and Salvatore Ferragamo.

Topping the year off with another 55 show season in September, Karmen got a chance to show what she’d learned in the past 12 months with an editorial for French Vogue called ‘Bal Masque’.
Featuring alongside Anja Rubik and Dree Hemingway, the themes were sensuality, opulence and Parisian glamour. Each concept is tricky enough in itself, but a sultry shoot is a notoriously difficult balance to strike. There’s an absolute (but subtle) line between making a statement and edging over into lads’ mag territory. The almost-mathematical precision in getting it right without sacrificing the mood of the editorial requires a level of skill you can only acquire through experience. The shoot worked perfectly in keeping the pages of French Vogue strictly high-fashion.

Karmen’s career zig-zagged again with another campaign signing, but this time she was asked to appear for the autumn / winter collection for Gap. The quintessentially American label chose to focus on one of its best selling points: denim.

Gap’s series of adverts marketed different cuts of jeans (eg: straight, modern flare, skinny) and used a clutch of top models to sell the goods. The campaign’s emphasis on easy fashion, added a stroke of genius when Gap put names to the model faces which included Alana Zimmer, Anja Rubik, Catherine McNeill and Lily Donaldson. Putting their names to each campaign image made the models immediately more appealing, taking it beyond the usual pairing of model with product, creating a campaign that was a slam-dunk for the iconic brand.

Gap’s light bulb moment worked because there is a certain satisfaction in being able to put a name to a face. The Cindys, Naomis and Christys – the models of the Eighties who were more celebrity than mannequin – are a thing of the past. It’s still possible for models acquire a certain level of fame (Lara Stone for example), but for most models, the trade-off is being known on sight, but not by name. In an age where we know everything about celebrities from their shoe size to their favourite snack, it’s a curious state of affairs.

But this is set to change as our interest in fashion continues to grow. Ten years ago, finding a member of the public who could name the editor of French Vogue would have been a tall order. Ten years on, Carine Roitfeld’s dramatic departure from the magazine in 2010 made headlines across the world.

The models emerging today are working in an industry where the rules are now a work in progress. A large part of that change has been thanks to the internet. Access to fashion – the very latest news, editorials and shows – is now just a click away. This proximity has created a generation who are as familiar with Gareth Pugh and Christopher Kane as they are with Topshop and Primark. It’s a generation who feel comfortable enough with the world of high-fashion to dissect the latest ideas, both with each other and the world at large. This willingness to engage in all things sartorial has turned the industry into something to be actively enjoyed, rather than regarded at a distance.

There are of course misgivings; when every opinion gets equal billing, figuring out what’s really worth your time can be difficult. But ultimately having too much information forces you to be selective. Being able to access everything gives you an immediate idea of what you like, what you don’t, and more importantly, why.

Making fashion a friendlier place to be has proved to be a touch of brilliance, because fashion is all about forming relationships. At the heart of this is the link between us, the consumer, and the model. If we don’t identify with the model, that dress, or that bag, won’t sell. The job of the model is to embody a designer’s ‘big idea’, whether that’s old-school sophistication or avant-garde sleekness, but in getting fashion’s finances back on track, the secret is to be relatable. The day of the uber-groomed supers has gone for a reason; we all want to indulge in that element of fantasy, but the post-recession fantasy is about the business of joy, not exclusion. Fashion’s getting back to the basics of why we buy what we buy: not just to feel part of a ‘club’, but to enjoy the act of choosing and wearing great clothes.

In light of this, the obvious choice would be to hire the money-maker faces. But the faces that are rising to the top aren’t just those starry one-in-a-million faces, but models that have got there through sheer hard work.

Karmen’s rise from ingénue to campaign girl is textbook when it comes to making the move from model to super; some are faces ‘of the moment’, slotting into a mood or look that gets everyone talking. Others make it by stealth, working for years and then suddenly making it big – Iselin Steiro is a perfect example of this. But Karmen falls into the third group: a solid but steady start, which blossoms into regular work on the world’s runway and editorial circuits.

Karmen’s transition from runway regular to the Spring 2011 face of Michael Kors and Gucci has been a process several years in the making, but Pedaru’s star power has lost none of its potency for it. There are some models that just have ‘it’ – that elusive modelling gene – but there’s something to be said for the grafters of the industry.

Karmen’s career will continue to flourish because her years of hard work have given her the skills of a supermodel, with the insight and intelligence needed to interpret fashion for a whole new generation.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: TANYA DZIAHILEVA

Born in Belarus in 1991, Tanya Dziahileva had an early start in modelling. Signed to an agency at the age of 14, her debut on the Spring / Summer 2006 catwalk saw her appear for Prada, Chloe, Chanel and Alexander McQueen.

Tanya’s launch into high-fashion continued with editorial work for British Vogue in February 2006 and a campaign for Hugo Boss featuring Tanya with Agyness Deyn. Both models were a telling choice for the brand; Deyn had just broken into the industry herself, with her unique street style and peroxide hair already making waves.

Aged 15, Tanya scored her first major solo campaign when she became the face of YSL, photographed by Juergen Teller. Normally such a high-profile booking would daunt even an experienced model, but Tanya handled the pressure and expectation like a seasoned professional.

2007 saw even greater success, with Tanya booking a campaign for Lanvin, photographed by the legendary Steven Meisel. If Tanya felt nerves, she didn’t show them – and within months she had also secured a fragrance contract with Nina Ricci and became the face of the Michael Kors brand, replacing Carmen Kass.

The model-switch represented a key change in fashion’s tastes. Michael Kors, a label synonymous with American luxury chic, Tanya was not the most obvious choice, but her hiring was a sign that fashion was already beginning to shed the idea of a certain type of model for a certain type of campaign.

Tanya’s first runway season of 2007 saw her walking in shows for Alberta Ferretti, Calvin Klein, Chloe, Dior, Givenchy, Marni, Oscar de la Renta, Proenza Schouler, Vera Wang and Zac Posen. Her booking sheet was a smattering of newly-formed design houses, such as Proenza Schouler and Zac Posen, plus more established labels like Oscar de la Renta and Givenchy.

But her breakout season came in September when she was hired for 71 shows. She was also picked to open the Versace show, and closed four shows including Phillip Lim, Celine and Valentino. Incredible as these achievements were for a model that was only 16 years old, 2008 would ultimately be Tanya’s blockbuster year. She landed two major campaigns; one with Anja Rubik and Maryna Linchuk for DSquared, and the second with global brand Ralph Lauren.
Tanya’s growing status as one to watch was cemented further when she booked over 70 shows for February 2008. The same month, she got her first cover, with Russian Vogue. The seal of approval from Vogue took Tanya’s career to the next level, getting her bookings in the couture shows in July. Standing at 5’ 11”, Tanya was height-perfect for couture and made appearances for Armani Prive, Dior and Valentino.

Couture’s reputation for being notoriously tricky to model is well-founded, but Tanya’s body of runway experience meant her debut in Paris was earned fair and square. Far from being elitist, haute couture is probably the fairest sector of the industry when it comes to hiring: ability wins over hype every time. Couture modelling requires a level of skill beyond ready-to-wear, with models being asked to effectively play a character – whether that’s giving Armani’s space-age glamour gowns a touch of gravity, or embodying John Galliano’s haughty equestrian fantasy. Haute Couture is a hybrid of fashion meets theatre, and Tanya disproves the myth that having a memorable face means you can’t be adaptable.

In August, Tanya did her first major editorial with U.S Vogue, shot by Steven Meisel, followed by a slot in Japanese Vogue and a feature in Russian Vogue where Tanya was dubbed a ‘top model’. Russian Vogue has a particularly good track record of recognising model talent: their decision to devote an entire issue to Natasha Poly launched her career into the stratosphere.
Tanya’s runway season in September was further proof that if a top model needs to be versatile, she met that requirement in spades. Opening and closing shows for Elie Saab and Yohji Yamamoto, Tanya’s ability to morph from one aesthetic to another couldn’t be clearer: it’s hard to think of two designers more different than Saab and Yamamoto. Saab’s reputation as a perfector of red-carpet glamour and Yamamoto’s clean, post-modern vision make them direct opposites, but Tanya’s keenly-honed runway skills meant she booked appearances for both.

September ’09 saw Tanya skip New York, London and Milan Fashion Weeks, concentrating solely on Paris with bookings for Alexander McQueen, Dior, Hussein Chalayan and Lanvin. But her experience of dealing with challenging catwalk was tested to its limit in March 2010 when she was asked to participate in a runway show, housing the final collection by Alexander McQueen, only a month after his sudden death. Part of a select group of seven models, the resulting show was subdued, but the work, stunning.

Tanya’s working relationship with the designer came full circle when she was asked to take part in an editorial for U.S Vogue. Called ‘Noble Farewell’, the layout showed Tanya and other models also featured in McQueen’s final runway show, wearing the collection and about to be packed away in crates, preserving McQueen’s work for all time.

It’s hard to fully gauge a designer’s worth during their lifetime, but the moving tribute paid by American Vogue was industry wide in its impact. Tanya’s final note of 2010 was another act of homage to McQueen. Fronting the September cover for Spanish Vogue, Tanya modelled one of Alexander’s now famous final looks. The heady baroque design was anchored by Tanya’s quiet and dignified gaze. No tricks required; this was modelling done so deftly that it looks like Tanya is doing nothing at all. A true sign of a top model is their ability to do more by doing less, and it’s a skill Tanya has mastered absolutely.

Her face has become one of the most recognised and recognisable in the industry, and even though her name is somewhat less familiar outside fashion circles, Tanya has become a supermodel by stealth. Her mix of quirky beauty and traditional supermodel traits sees Tanya competing – successfully – with newer models, even though her career is heading into its 6th year.

Tanya’s status as one of fashion’s most prized models has been hard-worn, with Tanya being catapulted into the spotlight when she was just 14. Acing an YSL campaign shoot at 15 years old is an extraordinary accomplishment. Her exhaustive body of work, featuring runway, editorials and campaigns with every major designer in the world, points to a model that thrives on hard work.

Tanya’s launch into the fashion world in 2005 came a decade after models Kristen McMenamy and Stella Tennant created a storm as faces that were ‘ugly / beautiful’. The mid-Nineties saw models appear whose look was unusual and challenging, a significant departure from the glamorous faces that populated the Eighties. Especially loved by European designers, such as Karl Lagerfeld and Jean Paul Gaultier, public opinion was strongly divided. Many didn’t get the appeal of such faces, others saw it as further proof that ‘high fashion’ had very little to do with ‘real life’. As vague as both these concepts are, the willingness of fashion to make beautiful clothes just that little bit ugly, transformed the industry. This was fashion taking the blinkers off and looking out on a wider definition of beauty. Poses became more angular, less defined: supermodels like Tyra Banks and Kate Moss began to appear in editorials where their bodies were slumped and their eyes cast away from the camera. The guiding principles were awkward rather than poised, quirky rather than sunny.

These new ideas on how to present high-fashion trickled down through the industry with modelling agencies finding themselves not automatically looking for ‘money girls’ – the kind who sell perfume by the barrel-load – but girls who could not only do, but embody, one word: editorial. But as editorial took hold, everyone wanted a piece of the new look. The quirky girls began getting hired not just for the high-fashion jobs, but for everything. It was nothing short of a revolution.

Tanya, along with Agyness Deyn and Coco Rocha, has become one of the first quirky girls to get the big-budget, big-name campaigns that were normally reserved for more conventional beauty. But Tanya isn’t considered a token choice: she has become one of the leading faces of a generation that accepts diversity as the norm. What’s considered on-trend alters constantly, but faces like Tanya’s have changed fashion’s mind about what beauty really is, and that idea refuses to budge.

Tanya’s portfolio boasts the expected avant-garde shoots and campaigns, but she is also a cover girl several times over. With seven Vogue covers to date, Tanya’s career is part of a much larger success story for modelling in general. With current hot-ticket Joan Smalls just announced as the new face of Estee Lauder for 2011, widening the terms of beauty has allowed models from every ethnic background to not only enter the industry, but to get their shot at those big-name bookings.

This revolution started on the runway, and this embrace of every kind of beauty came full circle during Jason Wu’s show last September. Featuring models from European, Asian and African-American backgrounds, it is incredible to think that ten years ago; this gathering would have been unthinkable, simply because it would have been impossible. Finally, their faces fit.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: CARMEN KASS

Carmen Kass has been a visible presence on the world’s runways for over a decade.

Born in Estonia, 1978, Kass is working (and working hard) at an age where most models are getting comfortable with the idea of being retired. But Kass is still commanding attention, with current campaigns including Michael Kors, Narciso Rodriguez and Max Factor.

To be relevant for this long, and without the backing of a media empire, takes some doing. Truly a ‘model’s model’, Kass is well regarded within the industry, and still maintains a steady balance of editorial print work with runway appearances. Her longevity has endured because Kass delivers impact on all fronts. Most models have a leaning towards a particular medium, or actively prefer print work (editorials and covers) to runway, but Kass is uniquely placed because she is equally strong at both disciplines.

Kass was discovered in 1992 by an Italian modelling scout. Travelling through Estonia, the scout stopped off at a supermarket and discovered 14-year-old Carmen.

In 1996, Kass moved to Milan (and then Paris) to pursue a modelling career. She did not have to wait long for success, as in September the following year she found herself walking in runway shows for Chanel and Versace. Not a bad start by anyone’s standards.

Her career blossomed, with fragrance contracts from Dior in 2000, a Pirelli calendar shoot in 2001 and several runway credits including Givenchy, Balmain, Marni, Oscar de la Renta and Valentino Couture.

It became self-evident very early on in Kass’ career that she would make an indelible mark on the runway. Her walk, once seen never forgotten, quickly became her signature. The stride that embodied confidence and sensuality was a fashion crowd-pleaser in the years before the Brazilian stomp became the industry standard.

Hired to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2002, Carmen (at that point not well known outside fashion circles) worked the runway with effortless aplomb. Kass, not necessarily the most commercially beautiful, stormed the show and was consequently signed up for the next show in 2003. Hiring Kass was a gamble for the lingerie brand, but it was a decision that paid off and explains why they are so keen to hire new names, their latest recruits including Chanel Iman and Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley.

The strength of Kass’ walk helped her forge connections with designers: she opened and closed the Oscar de la Renta shows for Autumn & Winter, and Spring & Summer 2002, doing exactly the same for Roland Mouret’s shows in 2005. Her walk took her to the heart of couture, walking for Givenchy, Valentino and Versace, plus additional catwalk credits with names such as Gucci, Carolina Herrera and Yves Saint Laurent. In 2004, it was reported that she was now able to command $200,000 for every catwalk appearance. Clearly designers considered it money well spent.

In 2006, Carmen entered the ‘campaign’ phase of her career, signing contracts with DSquared, Michael Kors and Chloe, and in 2007, landing 10 campaigns in 1 year including Versace, Gap, Ferragamo and, once again, Michael Kors.

Her affinity with the Michael Kors label continues to this day, as Kass remains the face of his fragrances, as well as opening and closing his catwalk shows in 2008 and opening the Spring & Summer 2010 show in New York just this September. Also walking for designers such as Isabel Marant, Balmain and Proenza Schouler, it is astonishing to think that Kass is still working with the best of the cutting-edge designers 12 years after her catwalk debut.

Her ongoing popularity isn’t hard to analyse. Notoriously difficult to replicate, Carmen’s walk defies interpretation. A good walk may be an advantage for any model, but a great walk really does last forever.

Imbibing clothes with personality while keeping them the area of focus, is the most difficult part of runway modelling (after mastering the heels). A model’s job is to give a designer’s vision a sense of identity and purpose on the runway so buyers and editors can assess the collection and crucially who would be its potential customer. To get an idea of how to pitch a designer’s work to their reader or customer, the coal-face of the fashion industry has to be able to recognise, at a glance, who the designer is really designing for. Fashion is about fantasy, yes, but at the end of the day, fantasy doesn’t pay the bills. Having a great model that understands this is the best asset a designer can have. Carmen Kass, with that cool, analytical brain, understands very clearly the fiscal connection between fantasy and reality. One feeds the other, and together they form a coherent brand for the designer. Knowing your customer is as crucial as having a sartorial point of view. Trying to survive without either is virtually impossible.

A competent walker will always find work, but someone who really makes their walk a part of themselves will see the benefits. Carmen is so well-loved because she is a true original: there is no-one else like her. She is not a headline-grabbing ‘classic beauty’, but her look has stayed the distance because it is versatile, and unique.

The importance of the runway walk is once again front row and centre with new kid Karlie Kloss. The American model has wowed the fashion circuit with her controversial ‘death stare’ swagger. Like Carmen, Karlie’s fame is attributed to her ability to imbue any designer’s collection with personality and character. Such is her popularity online; that a video of her giving a runway tutorial claims over 45,000 hits. Now with a fragrance contract with Marc Jacobs to her credit, Karlie is hitting the big-time and looks destined to follow in Carmen’s footsteps, racking up 64 shows in autumn 2008. Whether Karlie’s ascent would have happened so quickly without that devastating sucker-punch of a walk is impossible to gauge, but it proves that a seriously good walk can still take you places in the fashion world.

What is fascinating is how interest in fashion has not only developed, but diversified. There is a definite shift of attention towards the ‘live’ element of fashion: its runway shows. With facilities like YouTube, having a pass to Bryant Park is no longer required to see the latest shows.

Virtually all the major players of Spring & Summer 2010 are already available to view online.
Done right, runway shows can be miniature pieces of theatre, with the big names really putting in the hours to make a truly memorable show. Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs and Prada all make the effort to produce a show that will be talked about as much as the clothes. Again, its fantasy paired with reality: pitching a dream to sell a jacket. What’s more, it works.

Prada’s pre-historic theme with models teetering on 6” heels; any Alexander McQueen show of the past 5 years, and Marc Jacobs taking us on a guided tour of American fashion history. These moments become markers in fashion’s progress because, unlike theatre, we can re-play and re-visit them on demand. They become as much of the fashion experience as buying a copy of Vogue or visiting a boutique. Technology is fusing fashion to the next decade, and where it goes from here – well, you can’t help but get excited by the possibilities.

Just when you thought fashion had lost the personal touch, it has found a way to make itself accessible. In the next decade, the challenge will be pursuing this line of thought. Designers are realising the power created by making that one-on-one connection, and the return to favour of models that exhibit guile and daring on the catwalk is no accident. Aloof and abrupt just doesn’t cut it anymore. We want personality and wit but most of all, we want to be entertained.

HELEN TOPE