Camille : New York Models: is ready for her close-up. PH: James Mahon

The madness is upon us again. Show week cometh and the first omen of the next three weeks of drama, screaming, panic and exhaustion (all in the name of a 10 minute runway experience) is the show packages. Supreme which has been shooting their package since November 07 has fired the first salvo. TI has previewed the packages for Elite (very classic, all B+W ), NY Models ( super-fresh, super-clean and stocked with some of the best newcomers on the market), Women (very delicate, very...painterly) and is headed over to Ford and 1 Mgmt to see what they might have in store. Show packages afford an opportunity for each agency to make a statement about its identity as well as to say to the market "This is how hard my scouting division has been working". That is an exciting proposition because it means every agency has to make an aesthetic stand for those three weeks. Though the back beat of money is still constant, at least there is some creative energy released into the ether.
The timing is lovely too, for V 51's "Powerhouse Agencies" feature which has become another area of competition among the agencies. Then there is the hustle to position the new girls for the make or break exclusives at Calvin and Prada. As we said before, managers are going to have to choose between the two. Last season I was pretty depressed about the state of affairs that the NY show castings represented. But truth be told that Calvin exclusive served Toni Garrn and Karli Kloss very well, while Ali Stephens proved that a brilliant girl can wander NY and not get scooped up there, yet still find relevance in Milan and Paris.

Intro Card: New York Models : Fall/Winter 2008

Right now TI and its ring of associates is loving a very interesting, very compelling newcomer out of NY Models named Camille. Maybe everyone else will love her and maybe everyone won't, but she is the kind of fresh find that keeps this business exciting and inspiring. Watch out for her brilliant video going up later today on MDC. Her presence at NY Models is bookended by the legendary Sunniva who is also in the show package. We adore Sunniva and can't wait to release her interview we recorded last December. Of course a girl like that can only dare to walk for a certain 5 or 6 designers, but that makes nabbing her all the more special no?

PS. In the latest star model news, Natalia V adds another score to her booking record: Chanel Beauty, coming soon. Stay tuned.