The Wall Street Journal profiled Jeff and Mary Clarke, founders of Mother Model Management, this week, who shared some fascinating anecdotes about how they've discovered some of fashion's most famous faces.
Like whom? Ashton Kutcher, for one. Mary spotted him at an Iowa bar in 1997:
"How old are you?" she asked him. Chris Kutcher asked her to be quiet, Ms. Clarke recalls. He was 19, and under the legal drinking age.
After convincing the young man to try out modeling, Ms. Clarke got him signed with Next, which had just opened a men's division. The agency suggested that he use his middle name--Ashton--to distinguish himself from another male model, Chris Kramer.
And Karlie Kloss, the 18-year-old face of Dior and top Vogue editorial booker, who the Clarkes came across at a charity fashion show in St. Louis five years ago.
After from discovering new talent, usually in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, the Clarkes work on models' walking, posing and dressing -- sometimes the gals and guys will even stay chez Clarke. And:
"If necessary, they talk with models about their weight. The typical runway model is about 5'10" with 34" hips. "We say to each girl essentially 'Here are the industry standards, here is where you are,'" says Ms. Clarke. "We are careful that these girls are healthy and balanced and the family is involved."
Read the rest at WSJ.com.