This Houston Model Is New York Fashion Week's Latest It Girl
18-year-old Houstonian Katie Moore opened the Alexander Wang F/W 2016 fashion show.
Image: Instagram/TrumpModels
In fashion, as in most things, first impressions are everything. That's why most designers handpick supermodels to open their shows, their recognizable look setting the tone for the entire runway presentation. Hence Karlie Kloss opening for Ralph Lauren this week and Kendall Jenner leading the pack at Michael Kors.
Moore's before and after photos.
Image: Instagram/TrumpModels
But at Alexander Wang, one of the most anticipated and avant garde designers to show in New York, the first model to grace the catwalk was virtually unrecognizable, possibly even to her family and friends. Rocking an edgy, asymmetrical bob in a shade that Angela Chase would call Crimson Glow, Houstonian Katie Moore embodied the designer's '90s corporate punk aesthetic for his Fall/Winter 2016 collection. She led the pack in a black and gray striped skirt suit over a mohair tank with tights that read "girls" on each thigh and a dog collar choker.
Less than a week later, the fashion world is abuzz with 18-year-old Moore. Her off-the-moment bob is the work of legendary stylist Guido Palau, who chopped off her long blonde locks for the Wang show.
"When they told me their vision for my hair I was so terrified for about 5 minutes and then realized: It’s just hair. I’m 18 years old and it’s time to have some fun and explore a new side of me. I think it’s amazing. I would do it again in a heartbeat!” Moore told W.
An ad from Moore's Milk Makeup campaign.
Image: Instagram/katherineann.moore
Still, this model was already having a moment even before her new 'do. The Stratford High grad was discovered in the pews of her church in Houston, signing with Page Parkes agency in 2013 and adding representation in New York, London, Paris and Milan just a few months ago. Since then she's modeled in the inaugural Miles David ad campaign, and she's also a new face for Milk Makeup.
Now based in New York, Moore is also an actress—she was nominated for a Tommy Tune Award for portraying Rosie in Stratford's production of Bye Bye Birdie—and she takes dance classes in New York in between modeling gigs. Though time between modeling gigs might be harder to come by, after Moore's big NYFW splash, she's making a hell of a first impression.
