Prada Casting Director Russell Marsh Replaced by Ashley Brokaw

[HeatherAnne]

Interesting...

Rumor: Prada Casting Director Russell Marsh Has Reportedly Been Replaced by Ashley Brokaw

Longtime Prada casting director Russell Marsh is said to have been dropped from the label. Marsh is known for spotting undiscovered talent, and helped spearhead the careers of models like Sasha Pivovarova and Arizona Muse. His rumored replacement is American casting agent Ashley Brokaw, who previously replaced Marsh as the eye for Prada's ad campaigns; she's also responsible for casting the Balenciaga and Proenza Schouler shows.

- nymag, the cut

 

[jmrmartinho]

interesting...well, i really like her choices for the last ad´s, fresh girls with something special...

 

[Marc10]

This is really unexpected, Russell and Prada always seemed to be the perfect collaboration. I wonder if he's replaced at Miu Miu too.

 

[models_vlada]

Let's see how it results, i always found Prada's castings the most unpredictable and bizarre of all brands, getting sometimes extremely good results, and other times not so good. In my opinion of course.

 

[glossypages]

Quite shocked with this news, Russell's desicions most the time proved strong outcomes for Prada and were positive "investments" for not just the brand but the models. I feel Prada and Miu Miu have gained alot of popularity over the past seasons and are going from strength to strength so a decision like this whilst in such a height of their reputation is an odd one I find!
Although fresh change and eye is always good in my opinion it will be exciting to see what happens next in the casting area.
Hopefully they keep with their sourcing of unknown models and turning them into overnight stars because it's always interesting to see which faces their find and create into a world known names (ie. as stated in the article, Sasha and Muse etc.)

 

[LagerfeldBoy]

So Ashley casts models for Balenciaga and Proenza? Yeah, definite downgrade from Russell. In my opinion, the models constantly casted at Proenza and Balenciaga are just so bland.

 

[Melancholybaby]

I can't say I'm thrilled with Ashley's casting decisions but it will be interesting to see what girls she'll bring to Prada next season...

 

[style_expert]

I'm not that surprised considering Brokaw has casted the past 4 campaigns. It only makes sense to have the same cd for show & campaign. In the end I wonder how much of a difference it will actually make...

 

[cologne_rocks]

Marsh was definitely good when it was considered an avant garde casting decision to book newfaces for high profile shows. That was 15 years ago. He has done the same thing for over 10 years and it became ridiculous how he temporarily booked up to 10 new girls for one show (Remember his tragical Prada SS08 casting - freshness gone terribly wrong, so to say). I've never cherished his castings.... Most of them had this empty, very standardized vibe (hello, runway fillers!) and 50% of his shows were opened by not so talented newcomers. I prefer Brokaw casting, especially since SS11 when she launched (the former low profile commercial model) Aymeline and some other great young women onto the Balenciaga runways.

 

[lanvinray]

Interesting, I wonder how will this turn out

 

[mackos]

Oh, this is quite a surprise for me, being quite a fan of Marsh's castings but well, let's see what Ashley will bring for the label next season.

 

[Riseup]

She already had a rocky start with that hoooooorrible FW Prada campaign cast..yikes...let's just pray she doesn't cast half of netherlands population for the show,

 

[GivenchyHomme]

Hopefully their casting will be more consistent. It's kind of ridiculous to have 7-15 girls out of 40 repeat the following season. It's even more ridiculous that nearly every new girl disappears completely after walking for them just once.

 

[Forrest]

She already had a rocky start with that hoooooorrible FW Prada campaign cast..yikes...let's just pray she doesn't cast half of netherlands population for the show,

we just happen to have great models!!!!!

Last Balenciaga show:
Johanna Kneppers-Corbal
Laura Kampman
Marique Schimmel
Marte Mei van Haaster
Milou van Groesen
Mirte Maas
Querelle Jansen.

and in proenza & rag&bone also Bette.

Well, i don't have a problem with that as long as she cast mirte, bette and ymre bring on the Dutch!

only her balenciaga s/s 2012 campaign casting (if she did) was really badly casting, and her last prada campaign f/w 11.12 was also full with unknown new kids in woman clothes (except frida).

 

[coco vaughn]

do you know guys which models are the favourites of Brokaw?

 

[cologne_rocks]

^ That's the little (big) difference between Marsh and Brokaw - You can't really point out her favourite models. She is playing much more with different aesthetics than many other casting directors and has a subtler approach to casting unlike Marsh who basically casts the same girls for all of his shows.

 

[coco vaughn]

^ thanks. so that will be an interesting shift, cool...

 

[mom4etozavsi4ko]

She already had a rocky start with that hoooooorrible FW Prada campaign cast..yikes...let's just pray she doesn't cast half of netherlands population for the show,

and she did

 

[bluestar]

^ That's the little (big) difference between Marsh and Brokaw - You can't really point out her favourite models. She is playing much more with different aesthetics than many other casting directors and has a subtler approach to casting unlike Marsh who basically casts the same girls for all of his shows.

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to update this. Now that we have seen Ashley's casting for Prada and many other brands for the past 8 years, we understand her aesthetic and who her favourite models are. She really seems to love androgynous girls, so she has consistently used Julia Nobis, Mica Arganaraz, and Binx Walton over the years. Personally, I was surprised that she began booking Gigi for Prada last year, as Gigi doesn't really fit the aesthetic of models she usually tends to book for her shows, but I'm guessing this is more down to Gigi having a large social media following which these brands want for exposure. Anyways, I personally believe Ashley has done a relatively good job casting for Prada over the years, as she has discovered some gorgeous girls like Anok Yai and Lineisy Montero. While there are certain casting decisions she has made that I've shaken my head to, she hasn't tarnished Prada with lackluster casting, so I think her replacing Marsh in 2012 was a good decision.