Seems like the trend of the season is "comebacks and revivals". Did casting directors just realized this was a valuable niche market? Or are some of them as nostalgic as many TFS members? Do they want to prove the world that models can still have a career as they get older or a chance to strike back at the top?
While I surely won't deny I'm also happy to see some faces back here and there, some of them that I had deeply missed for years, and while it certainly is a good thing to see older models doing really well (unless it's a one-season-trend, which is highly possible nowadays), most of this feels quite random and gives me a bittersweet feeling of people having less and less ideas (or taste for innovation).
Regarding the fact older models are doing well, it's great. But it's greater when a new face is like in her 30's or more. Remember when Saskia started her career, she was about 30 when most models were considered too old to begin (or "not fresh" according to some scouts/agents I met) once they turned 18-19... Her talent, her success against all odds were quite a statement. I don't see any statement today. Even if I'm all for returns (I spotted Sophie Vlaming being back, sort of silently for now, the other day, and she looks better than ever), I don't forget that all these models I'm happy to see again today were newcomers when I started liking their work. I want some quality new faces, no matter how old they are, I want to be surprised, thrilled, I need something that boosts my imagination and gives me hope(s).
As for individual castings, I don't really have a favorite so far (and to be honest, I haven't watched everything carefully enough yet). Spotted some interesting newcomers here, and there, almost everywhere, no one stands out so far. Etc. Even Prada didn't look that bad... I wrote here a million times my point on Prada castings over the last 20 years... It can work but it's no guarantee, it has lost its spark being playing the same game season after season, with its share of success stories and disappointments (yet people were still like "Prada! Prada! Prada!" and back to the day like "when will Meisel shoot Kulikova for the cover of VI?!). What I regret, though, is those days smaller, B- or C-lists shows sometimes had the next great ones in their lineup... You know, like when Viktoriya Sasonkina was an absolute beginner and walked for the likes of Yuki Torii in Paris, a few seasons before landing her first Vogue Italia solo cover. That was one of the most interesting part, trying to spot the outsider. That was also the fun part of it.
