Daniel Peddle is regarded as a top casting director in the fashion industry. He's cast runway shows for 3.1 phillip lim, Alexander Queen's McQ, C'N'C' Costume National, Thakoon, YSL Homme, and Catherine Malandrino, among others. Now he's currently busy casting for Fashion Week, which is just over a week away (!!!). What does he look for? He tells Models.com he likes girls with "amazing personalities — who are well read, articulate and fun." His favorites include Magdalena Frackowiak and newcomer Arlenis Sosa. He says two looks are predominating this season for runway models:

We really like the tomboy look — not necessarily masculine in their face but they have sort of hardness to them while maintaining their elegance.

Another thing this season is trying to discern from all the girls out there the ones that are ethnically ambiguous. Girls and boys that have faces that you can’t just put in a certain place or race or geography. I think it’s very helpful to see those types of faces in our conflicted world because you can see that we’re still evolving as humans and they are the results of people willing to go beyond the socially constructed notions around race … With the Internet and the way that everyone is so connected now it’s not something you can overlook anymore. I don’t think it’s possible to do a modern show and have it be all blondes. I understand that sometimes a designer has an aesthetic that dictates something like that and of course we’re going to work with them to achieve their goals but personally I don’t find that to be a very modern statement.

And good old androgyny lives on. But if this "ethnically ambiguous" look Peddle speaks of is so hot right now, could that mean there's more room for racial diversity on the runways? We hope the fashion industry surprises us this time around.

New Generation: Daniel Peddle [Of the Minute/Models.com]