The unique era of supermodels. So famous that, more than 30 years later, simply mentioning the names Linda, Naomi, Cindy and Christy immediately conjures up an accurate image of the face and body. Just today, the film “Supermodels” debuts on Apple+, dedicated in documentary form to the magnificent four: Evangelista, Campbell, Crawford and Turlington. This system—between female power and star salaries (“For less than $10,000 a day, I won’t get out of bed” was Linda Evangelista’s mantra)—will never return.
“I was lucky enough to start working in fashion in the late 1980s, when the star system reigned. At the time, supermodels were so powerful that they almost eclipsed the clothes they wore. Legend has it that it was stylists who abolished the star system, hiring unknowns starting in the late nineties so that only their leaders would be in the spotlight…” says Bruno Pauletta, 59, CEO of Brave Management, a Milanese “boutique” agency. which represents about fifty models, including from London, Paris, New York.Pauletta, one of the most famous names in the fashion industry, was also Bianca Balti’s agent.
So, supermodels don’t exist anymore?
“Icons no longer exist. Today there are names on the crest of the wave who stage the most important fashion shows, but with the exception of influential models such as Gigi Hadid or Kendall Jenner, they are not necessarily known outside the circle of professionals. If we talk about Last season, Annemata Aderibigbe, Dutch, Hejia Li, Chinese, Tara Falla, French, and among the Italians Claudia Campana is a discovery.”
His colleague Piero Piazzi of Il Sole 24 Ore said that with the mobile phone, “everything has changed because time no longer exists. Before you have time to take root, you are already forgotten.”
“The fact is that the whole world is connected to the Internet, and fashion shows can be attended by anyone, which awakens the dream of becoming a model among millions of girls, much more than in the past. We are “captured” by the models offered. agencies based in remote locations on the other side of the world. The market is receptive because casting directors are always looking for new faces to show for the first time in New York, Milan or Paris: news axiology is an important trend. Recirculation has become faster and if we talk about figures on the crest of a wave, they do not last long. It may happen that for one or two seasons you are in the spotlight, and in the third you are looking for “new things”. face”: the possibilities of choice on the global stage are endless.”
Milan Fashion Week has just begun: what are the new selection criteria?
“The real novelty is the return of the “classic” model of Caucasian origin – tall, beautiful, blonde, with light skin. However, the general basis is the same as in recent seasons: aesthetic standards are globalized, as are the products. Therefore, the creations are worn by girls of different nationalities, many of them also from Africa and the East: for some stylists, ethnic models make up a large part of the composition, even if In general, within the ethnicity of the models, the system is balanced at the level of 50 to 50.”