Hot Teen Model Talent Agency in Fashion Trends

Filmed as a backstage companion to “Project Runway,” “Models of the Runway” focuses on the symbiosis between talent agency designer and model. Producers say that it also addresses a curiosity about the models that “Project Runway” viewers had expressed through e-mail messages and chat rooms.

“Heidi says in ‘Project Runway’ that a teen model can make or break a look,” Ms. Rea said. “You might see a design that’s not so good but is saved on the runway, or one that is good but is taken down by the model who’s wearing it.”

Tanisha Harper, a talent agency model who has worked for the photographer Patrick Demarchelier and the designers Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, saw her role, both on the show and in real life, as a kind of muse. “You give them that inspiration — the ‘that’s my girl’ thing that can mold their collection for the next season, or that may change their perspective of how they design that dress,” she said. “We give them their extra little oomph.”

Christopher Straub, a current contestant on “Project Runway,” said that he doesn’t rely on his fitness model for inspiration — he already has his own muse in Victoria Beckham — but did admit that the model can be the final element in the designer’s success.

“For me it’s a very important relationship because you can make the prettiest design or the ugliest fashion trends design, but it all comes down to how it’s presented,” he said. “That model has to be your best friend because she’s going to be the one who’s selling it.”

Over time, he said, some were fashion trends christened “death models” by the contestants. “The word was, ‘Don’t go with her,’ “ Mr. Straub said of one.

And has the emphasis on hearing more from the models been helpful? “For the first time they were sharing the spotlight, and I think they felt they had the ability to control the teen model designs a little bit more than in the past,” Mr. Straub said. “There were definitely times when the designers would get frustrated with the feedback.”

Mr. Straub might consider himself lucky. This season he is paired at least twice with Katie Sticksel, a model who insisted it wasn’t her place to influence anyone.

“I know what looks good on my body, so I would maybe give tips,” said Ms. Sticksel, who has worked for the designers Roberto Cavalli and Peter Som. “But as far as telling them what to do, I can barely zip a zipper correctly.”

Source: nytimes.com

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