Photographs: Monty Coles, www.montycoles.com (See Mr. Coles’ complete photo essay of David Jones’ swimwear model casting call on www.theloupe.org )
Words: Janice Breen Burns, jbb@voxfrock.com.au
Model castings were closed-shops once, part of fashion’s backstage mechanics, accessible by a Professional Few. I recall they were added to fashion PR’s box of tricks to leverage media coverage of runways only a few short years ago. Now, they’re regular PR preludes to upcoming runways, often thronging with media and packaged with a few pithy phrases for the 6 o’clock news. And why wouldn’t they be? Castings offer no story, per se, except to flag the future show, but their service to the modern news mix is sparklingly obvious.
Pretty girls, handsome boys; there is no comparable filler or fancier bit of fluff more easily tacked onto to lighten the mood of an otherwise sombre telly stream of politics, war and finance. This week however, the whole model-casting-as-media-lure PR concept took a new turn with David Jones’ invitation to media, via its public relations firm AMPR, to attend a “swimwear model casting”.
In other words; pretty girls, handsome boys, minimal clothing. “David Jones heats up winter with the SS14 Season Launch Melbourne Model Casting” was the alert. Phwwwoooar indeed.
The media-model-casting’s raison d’etre, unspoken but understood until now was suddenly crystalised, as succinctly expressed by a cameraman: “Now I really feel pervy…!” followed by a reporter who wondered aloud; “Maybe next a “lingerie model casting”? Or a “no knickers to speak of” casting?”
Phwoar, now you’re talking!
Compiled by Janice Breen Burns and Monty Coles
