Issa_spring 09 RTW
[pics: (style.com) (lexposure.net) (thefashionspot.com) (fashionmodeldirectory.com)]
Yordanos Teshager is an Ethiopian model who has built herself an impressive resume in a short time. Just recently she was referred to as one of the new faces on the model scene, and now she is doing runways, ads, and magazine covers.
She was the second runner up for the Miss World Ethiopia in 2004, and a semi-finalist for the Nokia Face of Africa in 2005. Yordanos was discovered when a scout saw her walking outside the agency and took her upstairs, where her life as a model began. She has the “it” factor. However, the 5'10.5" tall model, like many other models of color, has had to face some road blocks. She is quoted as saying that “there should be more than one spot for a black model”.
It was reported that in one season of Fashion Week, even though Yordanos went to 85 cast calls seeking work, she was left feeling like they would not hire a model of color. She walked in only 11 of some 200 shows, she was one of the very few models of color that season.With her ebony beauty, she turns heads wherever she goes. She was recently in several fashions shows for this season, including Ready to wear - Spring/Summer, and Autumn/Winter 2008. Armani, Prada, Rock & Republic and Naeem Kahn are among some of the many big names she has walk the runway for. She is represented by the prestigious Elite Modeling Agency. (jamati.com)
Q: Everybody complains about the models today, the sameness, the blank faces.
A: Nowadays, at the shows, I turn to my editors and say, ‘What’s the name of the girl, what’s her name?’ I really cannot recognize one from the other. The models in the past, like Linda and Naomi, were immediately recognizable. They had a lot of personality. These new girls have nothing. You can paint everything on their faces in a way because they have no expression. And the girls we used to see on the runway were very elegant. Liya is elegant. To me, she walks like a princess. Now the girls all look the same—from the first to the last.
The problem is partly with the modeling agencies. They have a lot of white girls—it’s easier. To find black girls takes more time. It’s a problem of research and talent, to find the right girls. We’re a little bit back to a period in the 70s, when you didn’t remember the name of a single model. They were not girls making an interpretation of the clothes, the way Linda did. They were just models. In the beginning of the 90s, those models were really celebrities—Christy, Naomi, Cindy, Stephanie. Beauty and Soul
Steven Meisel (photographer) has his own theories about why black models, save for the token few, have disappeared from runways. “Perhaps the designers, perhaps the magazine editors,” he said. “They are the powerful people. And the advertisers. I have asked my advertising clients so many times, ‘Can we use a black girl?’ They say no.” The concern is that consumers will resist the product, he said. “It all comes down to money.” Conspicuous by Their Presence
"What a drop-dead gorgeous woman. Some good photog totally needs to take her aside and craft a ridiculously beautiful photo book." (blog comment)
