21-year-old Swiss-Polish model Caroline Schurch appears in WWD’s popular ‘Model Call’ feature. Repped by New York Model Management in NYC, Schurch talks childhood, show season, and clubbing with a lobster. Because, of course.
Here are our highlights.
WWD: Do you ever find that there’s a competitive atmosphere backstage between all the girls?
C.S.: Yeah. There are so many girls, too many girls. The market is just…it’s crazy. You really have to be motivated if you want to be a model now. You really have to be perfect — and lucky. Lucky and motivated. I think a good sense of style can help. But also, if you’re only 16 and from the middle of nowhere in Russia and you look like you’re from [the middle of nowhere], the fashion people are sometimes [captivated], like, “Ooh wow, that’s such a new girl.” But if you’re older, maybe you come from a city and kind of already have a sense of style and you’re into fashion and you show that you’re interested…that can be better, too.
WWD: What’s the most stressful part of the show season for you?
C.S.: You never know if you’re gonna actually walk the show until the last minute, even if you’re kind of confirmed. Some girls are dropped at the very last minute. Last season, at one show, the call time was 3 a.m. and they dyed the hair of a few girls — so they had already started on hair and makeup — and then the casting director came in and said, “I’m very sorry, but the clothes are not ready” or “I’m sorry, we don’t need you anymore.” And I remember [one of the] girls didn’t walk any other shows that season….And it was the last show of the season. It was horrifying.
WWD: What do you do for fun here? Do you ever go out at night?
C.S.: I have a funny story about it, actually, which happened this weekend. On Friday, I had a crazy shoot with some food styling. There was food everywhere — seafood, lobsters — we had to eat [for the photos]. It was amazing. It was a three-floor apartment in TriBeCa with a pool, a crazy place. We finished pretty late and I fought to bring the lobster home with me. But at that moment, I forgot that I had to go straight to a party — a party in Chelsea for a magazine. So actually, I ended up bringing the lobster straight to the party with me. I arrived there with my lobster.
WWD: Wait. You mean a whole lobster in a shell?
C.S.: Yes.
WWD: Was it in a takeout box or something?
C.S.: It was in a plastic bag. I left it in the cloak room. Yeah, I went to a club with my lobster. I didn’t have a proper dinner that day, so I went upstairs to the restroom with my lobster there and ended up eating it around midnight.
