For New Models, There’s Room At The Top

For New Models, There’s Room At The Top

It’s been a puzzling season for model spectators. One of the biggest questions among enthusiasts is: Where are all the big-name girls? We let out a cry of relief when Karlie Kloss opened Anthony Vaccarello today after skipping out on New York, London, and Milan. But what about Abbey Lee Kershaw (Alexander Wang and Anna Sui have been her only stints)? Or the incomparable Freja Beha Erichsen (who’s gone totally MIA)? The answer comes down to economics. Walking in shows pays a paltry sum compared to landing an ad campaign, which these supes continue to score in spades. Simply put (and much to our dismay), fashion week isn’t financially worth their time or energy.

So you’d think that Fall’s fresh faces would fill in the void at the top right away, but that hasn’t been the case. Aside from Nadja Bender and Marie Piovesan, there are just a handful of new girls who have proven themselves to be more than just blips on the radar. Spunky Icelandic beauty Kolfinna Kristófersdóttir managed to win (with a whopping 42 percent of readers’ votes) the Style.com Walk-Off in London, beating out veterans like Shalom Harlow and Alana Zimmer. She continued to up the ante even further in Milan, booking shows including Versace, Emilio Pucci, and Marni. The other one who has demonstrated she can compete in the major leagues is Chinese model Lina Zhang, who walked A-list runways like Dolce & Gabbana and Bottega Veneta this week. As Paris gets under way, we expect to see a few more of these uncovered gems, as well as more of the veterans, turn up at the shows. After all, walking in the Chanel show: priceless.