The runway exclusive is something of a fashion institution—it’s a stamp of approval. It’s more than just proof that a model is special or unique. “For a model, this can literally break their career,” says casting director Daniel Peddle, who works with Drew Dasent at The Secret Gallery, the directors who select the cool casts for 3.1 Phillip Lim and Givenchy’s menswear collections. “They can be plucked from relative obscurity and in one season go from not being on anyone’s radar to then being in high demand for editorials, campaigns, and future shows.”
Brands like Alexander Wang, Prada, Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, and Givenchy choose a handful of exclusives each season, and the models selected often go on to big things. Household names like Joan Smalls, Gemma Ward, and Behati Prinsloo began as exclusives, only to be pushed into the stratosphere, but for every Gemma or Joan, there are countless others who fall off the radar. In the past, a choice exclusive could also come with a spot in a campaign or the promise of meatier work down the line. Today the odds are less certain—runway work doesn’t always translate into editorial or advertising bookings. A label can have an army of new, exclusive models yet still select an established face or, in the current moment of high-profile stunt casting, a celebrity to front its campaign.
For some, the very idea of exclusives has become passé. Casting director Angus Munro of AM Casting, aka the man behind the chic lineups at Rick Owens, Kenzo, and Kanye West’s Adidas Originals presentation, finds the concept at odds with the pace of the modeling industry. “I think they had a relevance back in the day when models’ shelf lives were much longer,” says Munro. “In this almost disposable model culture where show girls last a few seasons at best, they really have no place. Rather than being an aesthetic statement of a girl perfectly embodying a collection, exclusives now rather smack of one-upmanship and muscle flexing between houses.”
The battle to launch a model can become competitive. With multiple shows often clamoring for the same models, the choice often comes down to prestige—or cold hard cash. “Not all labels can afford this expense,” points out Peddle. “So there is a certain amount of bragging rights in terms of designers being able to say, ‘We launched them.’” With designers building model clans left and right—Balmain’s army, Givenchy’s gang—being an exclusive can be a smart career move, but it can also serve to alienate models from other clients. “It is largely counterproductive for the models’ careers,” says Munro. “In a sea of great new faces every season, the girls who stand out to me and my clients are those that you see looking amazing at all the top shows, not the girl with one appearance as Look 23 covered in makeup at Saint Laurent!”
In recent years, the idea of semi-exclusives has emerged. Under a semi-exclusive, a model can’t do any shows beforehand but is free to explore her options after the show wraps up. “It’s a more modern way of doing things,” says casting director Shaun Beyen, the man behind shows like Maison Margiela and Bottega Veneta. “It lets the girl start with your show so it’s still her first, but she’s then able to have a full season and work with other people, which benefits her career.”
Still, brand exclusives often can serve as an introduction to the faces that will dominate the runways in a season or two. When insiders spot the right girl at the right show, it can whet their appetite for more, an advantage many of this season’s standouts may have on the competition when the next season rolls around. Peddle cites this season’s Prada exclusive Lineisy Montero as a prime example of a girl to watch in the coming months: “Next season she will be one of the girls many designers will want to book.