A couple of days before the Ann Demeulemeester show at Paris Fashion Week, eager models are standing in the foyer of the brand’s studio in the Marais, waiting patiently with their picture in hand. Casting director Ben Grimes sits with creative director Stefano Gallici and his team, and sequentially, models come in, say an enthusiastic hello, hand over their image, do a short walk across the room and back, and exit. Some are shy. Some have a little more bravado. Discreet ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘maybe’ piles of pictures appear on the floor, to be reviewed by Grimes and Gallici later. Those chosen for the second round walk again, looks are fitted, and after many, many other machinations, it’s time for the show.
“When someone walks towards you, you’re going to have two reactions. You’re going to have one that’s personal to you, and you’re going to have one that is very analytical, one that’s ‘right for my client’,” says Grimes, who worked on eight other shows this Spring/Summer 2027 season, including Jil Sander, Victoria Beckham, Missoni, MM6 Maison Margiela, and Erdem. While the live casting moment feels intense, the decisions that determine who walks, and who doesn’t, are the visible end of a process that starts long before any hopeful model enters the room.
For casting director Julia Lange, the process happens across 18 shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Lange launched her eponymous casting agency in 2011 and now operates a 17-strong team. We meet at a bar in Milan opposite the Fendi show venue. It’s the day before the Fendi show, and Lange has an impending meeting with executives, so we need to rattle through my questions. Her schedule runs like this for the entire fashion month, as she zips between clients on moto taxis, monitoring her several teams. “We have five team leaders that we are dividing between all the shows,” she says. One of them, Max Märzinger, is by her side. “Sometimes, it’s two clients a day. On two days of Paris Fashion Week, I will be between five clients. You just have to be efficient. Efficient is my middle name, I guess.”
