Model.Live Episode Twelve: "That's What I Earn in a Whole Year" October 24, 2008 3:53 pm >> After a disappointing Spring 2009 runway season, Austria Alcantara saw a turn for the better when she returned home to the Dominican Republic for a couple of days. Dominicana Moda, the local Fashion Week, was going on and Austria booked 12 shows, getting the opportunity to open and close for the first time ever. She was treated like a celebrity, with applause every time she appeared on the catwalk, and as her agent, Socrates McKinney, described it, "Every single girl in the Dominican Republic wants to be like Austria." It just keeps getting better: Austria has booked her first New York campaign, and her compensation is $9,000 for three hours of work — quite a hefty salary for a girl from a country where her agent says the average salary is $200-$300 a month.
Model.Live Episode Eight: Two Out, One Grand Slam September 26, 2008 11:18 am >> The third Fashion Week in for the Model.Live girls, and things start to get difficult — for Madeline Kragh and Austria Alcantara, at least. Austria went to over 30 castings for Milan Fashion Week and got nothing, except a call from a casting director to her agency IMG saying that she wasn't looking her best. Ouch. Madeline had the same troubles — she wasn't cast for any shows, and at one point got frustrated enough to tell the cameramen to stop filming. Both girls, defeated, move on to Paris early. Cato van Ee, on the other hand, scores Prada for the second season in a row — and does a little impromptu song and dance when she finds out. Will Paris be a whole new ball game, as the girls are promised? Next week, we'll find out.
French Sole
Kate Moss