On the runways of the world: Lieve Dannau
After been a finalist on the Elite Model Look contest in 2011, she incorporated very fast and with succeed in the international circuit of Fashion Weeks. This season, the 17 year-old model, born on France but raised in Chile, went back to booking shows and modeled for more than 30 designers. Almost a year ago from her last interview with Mujer magazine, we go back to talk to her and we have found a self assured mannequin, more critique and in control of her job, but she still doesn't let herself dazzle by the industry.
She has 4 cellphones on her bag. One for when she's in the US, another for Europe, one exclusively for France and, of course, the one from Chile. Those are her faithful travel mates, her conecction with her family, friends and a vital tool for her job. Today Lieve Dannau doesn't have a current adress and her life is packed in a medium size suitcase. In it she packs books and palm honey that her mum gave her, macramé bracelets that her brother gave her, maps from Paris, New York, London and Milan, the book Santiago in 100 Words, high heels and basic clothing for the castings, a lot of make up removal, her passaports and the most important thing: plug adapters so she never runs out of battery.
With that suitcase she'll leave to Paris stay for a week and pose for some catalouges. After that she'll go to New York, where she'll stay for a couple of months to keep on trying to succeed in the American market and wait for a new version of Fashion Week in that city. After that nobody knows exactly where her next destiny is going to be.
Even though she misses her closests people, she has been able to build a circle of friends in the fashion world. Most of the models have the same age as her, but from different nationalities, with the one she crosses constantly on castings. "It's amazing, you manege to establish some sort of family, weird and disfuntional but family. I have a really good time with them and they surround me", she says over the phone from her grandparent's house outside Paris, where she decided to have a rest after the intense weeks where she walked for the most important runways of the world. She ended up exhausted but booked shows for really important fashion houses such as Saint Laurent, Rodarte, Herve Léger, Galliano, Vionnet, Rag & Bone and for her favourite show of the season: Paul Smith in London. But without a doubt, her highest moment was when she walked for Gucci in Milan. "I was very surprised that they picked me, because they always use well known models and only choose 3 new girls per year. I felt it was a big honour to be there", she asures.
In an interview, published on April of 2012 in Mujer magazine, you said you didn't knew much about the fashion world and it was never something you where really interested in knowing more about. Do you feel the same about it know or you are more interiorized with it? Yes, i am more interested. For me understanding fashion and knowing who is who is quite an experience, because this is not something that would naturally caught my eye. It's not something i dedicate myself once i finish working. I'm everyday meeting designers, stylist and when all that is over i try not to talk about that stuff. For example, i never know what to answer to the question: who's your favourite designer?
It doesn't caught you attention to see well known designers on the castings or on the shows? First when i heard about them i couldn't picture them, they were strangers for me. But now that i can be able to recognize them on castings it's fun. I had the chance one to see Galliano, on the Oscar de la Renta's casting; Donatella Versace and Karl Lagerfeld also. I've never had an admiration for him, but he really caught my attention. Plus it's funny how these whole circle of people that surrounds them.
And do they give you a lot of stuff after the shows? Yes, in New York. There it exists something that's called "trade", where a percent of your payment it's payed in clothing. Personally i would preffer if they would give me the whole salary, because i don't necessarily want to use it in buying clothes. I want the money more than anything to save it for later and for travelling. In Paris, for example, it's illegal to do trade because you have to declare all your earnings.
Which is your favourite fashion week? All of them are really different, but this was my first time in New York. Last year like i was and exclusive for Calvin Klein i couldn't do any other show in that city. Now i lived it completely, i had a really good time.
It's the whole casting process really stressing during fashion week? Yes, a lot. Most of times you can wait for almost 2 hours for the casting, and you have like 15 a day, so you have to be running all the time, because people know the more castings you go to, more chance of booking jobs you have. And when you get there and see that the people working there are pretty relaxed having themselves a cup of coffee or having lunch and you at that point should already be at another place, you get yourself really nervous. You're missing jobs and possible bookings.
What differences do you see in the fashion productions for chile and the foreign ones? In Chile the industry is very small, so they tend to copy what you see in other places and try to improvise base on the likes of who-knows-who. It's not that there isn't potential, there is a lot of people with a lot of talent, but everyone gives opinion about everything and do someone else's job. That's the chilean character. In New York, for example, if someone messes with your work, they get kicked out. Besides they are more demanding with the models. In Chile they take care of you, see if you're hungry or if you're having a good time, but outside they are tough. If it's cold the model is cold.
With that demanding level how do you keep your beauty routines and your health balanced? It's really hard because i don't have much time. Feeding myself it's really complicated because it doesn't exist the moment where i can seat and have some real food time. Most of the time i have to eat while i'm on the subway, on the cab or when hunger finds me. For example in New York, where everything is extremely accelerated, i found fast food everywhere, i slip and think: "oh, i'll buy a hamburguer and that's it", but i really have to take care of myself, have nutrients and eat healthy because they are a lot of weeks where i keep up that rythym and i couldn't live from only sandwiches.
Do you feel your skin for example, resents these stress? Yes, absolutely. Still it's good that for castings they ask you not to wear make up. Even though i've never been much about using it, i think that has helped me that that isn't part of the job. I think i haven't put on make-up, apart from the shows, since i left Chile. It's fun but when you find yourself with the same girls all the time you realize that in New York, at the begining of the castings for Fashion Week, all of them are really pretty and fresh, but at the end of the season in Paris we are all with tired faces and extremely exhausted. The good thing is that in castings they know this but they don't take count of it.
Do you see yourself modeling in a long term? Now that i know more how the job works, no. They are a few models that stay for a long time in the industry, this is an extremely exhausting job and i believe it doesn't hold for longer than 4 years. Fashion weeks are really exhausting, you are running all the time. Now that i took a few days off i've slept a lot because when i'm constantly working i sleep like 4 hours per night. I've been non stop for almost a year and my body has felted. As i'm new you have to attend to all of the castings, be everywhere and it's hard. For now i feel it like an experience to know and travel and i want to embrace this opportunity, but i'm still applying for university.
she's getting better and better, new shots and polas are stunning!
