With the role of the stylist as a strong influencer, in both casting and the creation of concepts, being a trend that simply refuses to go away, we wanted to sit down with a voice of the next generation and discuss his ideas on the subject. Who better than Tom Van Dorpe, whose passion for fashion is matched by his love of models and their unique offerings of character and beauty? Where one stylist may ask on what a model has been working lately, with whom they’ve been shooting, and what they have coming out, Tom simply asks what time they can see him, and whether they are available for the project he has in mind. Taking risks on one model after another, this Belgian-born editor has very quickly made a habit of discovering his own stars. Oftentimes the first to book the boys and girls in whom he finds inspiration, the only formula he seems to follow is his own. Petitioning to slow down the speed of the generation turnovers, it’s incredibly interesting to hear from someone coming out of the present moment that he, too, would love the chance to have more time with the same girls from one season to another. Keeping up with his verbose excitement was an entertainment that I was happy to indulge and eager to endure.
Tom Van Dorpe: You need to be inspired and that takes something by which to be inspired. French girls are great with this. They have the personality, but they are not over the top. They have a very good understanding of how to give personality, but without showing too much, because they have a sort of mystery to them. I think that’s why there are so many French models right now. Marine Deleeuw and Josephine Le Tutour both have that, I think.
