Times Square shivered with excitement, despite swelter- ing temperatures, when fashion visionary Grainne Vaughan jetted in from Limerick, Ireland, for a fashion shoot with top American photographer Halstan. This was power pairing at its best, an explosion of creativity, blarney and inimitable charm. Grainne, whose career has spanned all aspects of the industry on a global level, is headquartered in Limerick, where she has an accessories boutique and a model development business, also represented in Dubai. Halstan is a former international model now based in Los Angeles. Their combined talent took the Big Apple by storm. Jaded New Yorkers, weary from heat and economic doldrums, found their flamboyant energy infectious. Smiles appeared on weary faces.
It was a great day not only for the Irish contingent, but also for two aspiring American models who had been scouted by Grainne from over 1,000 contestants at an International Model and Talent Convention ( IMTA) at the New York Hilton hotel for a fashion shoot for one of Ireland’s glossiest and most prestigious magazines, Limerick Now.
Beautifully coiffed, impeccably dressed and blessed with a complexion like porcelain (if we could only bottle that Irish mist), Grainne went into action within hours of touching down at JFK airport. She and her assistant, Miriam Halley, went straight to the New York Hilton hotel in Manhattan, where they had been invited to the IMTA convention. This phenomenon actually happens twice a year in Los Angeles in January and New York in July, affording aspiring models, actors, dancers and singers, who have completed training at modeling schools, an opportunity to be seen by hundreds of industry experts from around the world.
Grainne was in the audience for the Team Competition, the first major event of the week. She narrowed her search from contestants in that division to 100 girls. She interviewed each one and selected two for the assignment. This was a visible lesson for contestants and parents on how staggering the competition is in the modeling world. Ingénues Traci Thoresen and Kalah Hendricks were ecstatic when they realized they had been selected. Makeup and hairstylists quickly did their magic and the whole crew moved
to Times Square where photographer Halstan went to work. Back at the hotel everyone was agog with excitement when word spread that two girls had already been cast for an international fashion magazine assignment.
Grainne told me in her lovely Irish lilt: “I am calling the shoot ‘Limerick on Broadway.’ We have great dress designers in Ireland and two of them, Caroline Mitchell and Patrick Casey, designed the clothes for this shoot.” I asked her what had set Traci and Kalah apart. She said, “They have that X factor; star quality. They will get their first tear sheets, possibly even a cover, from one of Ireland’s glossiest magazines.” I later learned that one of the shots had in fact been picked for the cover of Limerick Now.
After the shoot I talked with Grainne about the challenges young men and women face in the modeling world today. She said: “It is tougher than ever. Everyone is cutting back, even in Dubai. We all have to study ways of dealing with this recession especially in this business. There are fewer jobs and more and more young people competing for those jobs every year. I have had hands on experience in many aspects of the industry. When I look at the big picture, I see a very necessary link in the market—development. Models must be ready before going to Europe. They need to know what to expect and what is expected of them. Hair, skin, teeth, hip measurement and attitude must be right. This takes time. Also when they are ready, they must be placed with an agency best suited to their looks, talent and temperament.”
“After over twenty years in the business I have found my true niche—development and placement. I love to work with models
References:
Archives