How Runway Models Prepare for London Fashion Week Castings
Castings for the London shows are decided in ninety seconds. What a runway model does in the weeks before decides how those ninety seconds go.
Every season, casting directors see hundreds of runway models in a handful of days. The walk matters — of course it does — but preparation is mostly quieter than that: a book that is current, digitals shot in the last month, measurements that are accurate to the centimetre, and an agency that answers its phone.
What casting directors actually check
Current polaroids beat a beautiful but year-old book. Designers cast against sample sizes and real schedules, so the practical questions come first: is the model in town, are the measurements right, can she hold fittings on Tuesday and the show on Thursday. An agency's job is to make every one of those answers instant.
The walk
A good walk is not one thing — a Simone Rocha show and a sportswear presentation want different energy. The runway models on our board rehearse on camera, because the walk that feels right rarely photographs the way it feels. Sixty seconds of video tells a model more than an hour of mirror work.
What to bring on the day
Casting kit is unglamorous and non-negotiable: plain fitted black — a vest or tee and slim trousers or a simple dress — clean skin, hair down and workable, heels you can genuinely walk in, flats for the queue, and a phone with the digitals and book loaded in case the printed card runs out. Eat before you go; casting days run long and the model who is still sharp at five o'clock books the show. London casts the way its streets look — Black models, Asian models and mixed-race models walk every major show — and designers increasingly cast that way on purpose.
FACES is the boutique board of The Diversity Agency, a London modelling agency working across fashion, editorial, beauty and runway. Our models are available for castings and fittings across London, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Manchester, the North East and the wider UK. Booking for the shows? The whole board is on one page — send the brief through the contact page and you will have availability the same day.