IMTA 1995

IMTA 1995

The New York Hilton is an ugly concrete monstrosity in a treeless mid-town/Times Square neighborhood. Nonetheless, when it is filled up with thousands of aspiring models, the result is remarkably aesthetic. That's the annual IMTA Convention, when aspiring models and actors from all over North America converge on the city to be discovered.

"I estimate that one in fifty girls here has a chance of having a career," noted Francesca Milano, a makeup artist who has seen it all, as she covered over Christina Perreault's chicken pox outbreak. Christina, 5'9", is a 14 year-old from Toronto whose mother brought her down here. "I wanted to get her off horses because she was getting too masculine. Also it is very dangerous," Maria Perreault noted. Didn't she worry about the shady characters of the fashion world?

"In my opinion you can be very feminine and very intelligent. I think a woman should exploit any beauty God gives her. Exploit it. To hell with what people say. The only people who complain about modeling are the ugly women. Well, that's just too bad."

So would she let Christina come to New York alone to work?

"Not until she's 21."

What about college?

"Absolutely. She wants to be a pediatrician or a lawyer. It will be Ivy League for her."

Doesn't Christina miss the horses?

"No," she Mom; Christina shouted "YES!" from the makeup booth.

Christina Perreault, aged 14, suffering from chicken pox at the 1995 IMTA Show in Manhattan. Being made up by Francesca Milano.

Christina Perreault, aged 14, suffering from chicken pox at the 1995 IMTA Show in Manhattan.

Kids

Children as young as 4 come to the IMTA convention.

Hunks

T-shirt contest. IMTA Show 1995 Manhattan

Legs

The IMTA show comes closest to flesh market during the legs competition. Women walk out on the runway, four abreast to save time, with masks over their eyes. They are judged solely on the appearance of their legs.

Lesli

The face. The face that makes a photographer famous. The next Cindy Crawford. I had discovered her. Lesli Liles from Corpus Christi, Texas. The girl who cannot take a bad picture.

I came running back to Hearst with one of her "laser" portfolio shot and a few of my images. I barged into a Cosmopolitan Women's Style editor's office. "This is it. We have to use her. The next Cindy Crawford."

She took a short but hard look at the photo. "Philip, how old is this girl? 11?"

"Well, she's 12, but she's already 5'7"."

"Get out of my office."

Mistee Howe and Lesli Liles from Corpus Christi, Texas. IMTA Show 1995 Manhattan

Erica Nelson, Mistee Howe, and Lesli Liles from Corpus Christi, Texas. IMTA Show 1995 Manhattan

[left to right: Mistee Howe, Lesli Liles, Erica Nelson. If you want to become famous for discovering them, call the Reflections Agency in Corpus Christi at (512) 857-5414.]

The Walk

"I'll bet a burger and fries would go well with that shake."

The Ambiance

Waiting for the swimsuit show. IMTA Show 1995 Manhattan

The Money

You'd probably think that most of the money in the fashion industry flows from clothing manufacturers into the pockets of the models and their agents. In fact, at the IMTA show you see a tremendous current of money flowing from aspiring models into the hands of talent schools, agents, and photographers. Each girl at the show had paid something like $4,000 for their week in New York, including hotel and competition entry fees. That's on top of whatever tuition they are paying back home in Kansas.

In fairness, it should be noted that colleges like Harvard and MIT aren't all that different when they bleed each student of $130,000, but somehow they manage to do it a little better public relations spin. Also, some of the school directors noted that their students are learning skills that will help them in many walks of life, not least of which is the role of rich man's wife.

Models in training get so used to paying for everything that they forget what ordinary kindness is. One girl from Barbados noticed my preponderance of cameras and asked if I knew anyone who could do a few quick photos for her. She needed them the next day. I told her that it was a nice overcast day, so she should just come outside with me and I'd burn off a roll that she could take to a 1-hour lab. After ten minutes on the sidewalk, I handed her the roll and she asked how much she owed me. When I said nothing, she threw her arms around me with the happy innocence of a child.

More: The International Modeling and Talent Association.

philg@mit.edu