The Winners so far...

Kamila Filipcikova @ IMG /Agnete Hegelund @ Ford

The show season has begun. For real, now. Even if Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein, aka the most watched collections (and castings), haven't shown yet. That means still a huge room for expectations. For big expectations and big surprises. And sometimes odd speculation. Though the fashion week in NY has already seen a certain amount of decent shows and important castings. And you can already tell who's done this, who's done that. Who's done well. No career is safe and steady at that time but it's always a refreshing feeling when you realise some of your favorite models are having some moments in NY...
It's the case for Viktoriya Sasonkina and Lyoka Tyagnereva who were true to their expectations and potential. We have to add models like Vika Kuropyatnikova, Alana Kuznetsova, Anna Gushina to that list and some surprises like Karmen Pedaru (an all-time favorite at MNP) or Aline Weber (we felt it was her time when we got her polas a few days before the shows). And many others, of course. Then you have those girls that were caught by an enormous hype a few weeks or months ago. They're called Paul Pavlovska, Skye Stracke and Abby Lee Kershaw. Beginning with Paul... the cool kid is having a pretty decent season and should be booked soon for more editorials but she doesn't appear everywhere and some of her fans may think the total of her appearances so far is a bit underwhelming. The question remains: was that hype really appropriate ? Was it the best way to introduce her ? She's doing well but... We really believe in her potential. With or without platinum-blond hair and a boy's name. She could be the dark-blond Katya she used to be, she would have done it for us. Sometimes the hype kills the vibe.
Same about Skye. Decent shows and a wonderful yet quirky presence on runways. Exactly what we love ! But we've read somewhere - if it's not everywhere - that Skye was the limit. The truth is that she's doing well but it can - again - look a bit underwhelming if you remember the buzz before.
Last one, Abby Lee. She is really everywhere. She opens, she closes. And she annoys.  we wouldn't have bet one cent on her if there wasn't so much hype around. But her appearances on runways are far from bad, it's even OK, it's a good walk and a certain presence. Not enough for us though, as she simply doesn't embodie what we're striving for. Actually, it's still early. Too early. She's maybe more the NY kind of face and Paris is probably waiting for another new darling. Time will tell.
That's why, for us, the winners so far are Kamila Filipcikova and Agnete Hegelund. They are not that new - not that old as well - but it's just like they have the most perfect timing for this season gracing  the newest Vogue Italia cover by Meisel (who already shot them together).  Great s/s 08, campaigns, strong start in NY f/w 08-09 and Vogue in the same time. Many successes stories have probably begun this week, many are still to come this month, nobody seems to have the same opportunities as Kamila and Agnete yet. Until MJ and CK ? Well, Camille, Natalie Keyser, Ali Stephens and others are still kept heavily secret...