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:
SS08 Noot Sear
FW08 Freja Beha Erichsen
SS09 Raquel Zimmerman
FW09 Natasha Poly
SS10 Mirte Maas
FW10 Natalia Vodianova
SS11 Britt Maren
FW11 Aymeline Valade
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 SS08 and made a mini Runway IQ tracker which you can play with below.
Without further ado, the winners are:
1. Hanne Gaby Odiele (Ford) 8 looks
2. Freja Beha Erichsen (IMG) 7 looks
Kasia Struss (Women) 7 looks
3. Abbey Lee Kershaw (Next)6 looks
Alla Kostromichova (Women) 6 looks
Lily Donaldson (IMG) 6 looks
Magdalena Frackowiak (DNA) 6 looks
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.