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High-heel boot camp captures the pain of being beautiful
Modelinia is a Web site where you can learn all the details about your favorite fashion models. For example, did you know that deep inside, Chanel Iman is a shy girl? Coco Rocha is not just beautiful, but she’s a good dancer, too! And Hanne Gaby Odiele, the young hot model from Belgium, really liked the breakfast backstage at the Balenciaga show. We couldn’t help but linger over a 5-part video series titled “High Heel Boot Camp,” hosted by the natty creative director of Barney’s New York, Simon Doonan.
After looking at all the New York, Milan and Paris runway shows and the sky-high heels that caused models to slip, fall and just generally be miserable, we had wondered how on earth a person learns to walk in those things. Now we’ve found our answer! Uber-model Anastassia Khozissova, a 5-foot-10 Russian who has walked the Chanel couture catwalk and these days models for Ralph Lauren, was the instructor. She works with Trump Model Management to teach aspiring runway models how to walk in really, really, really high heels. The five-part “boot camp” series tells the tale. The two unfortunate young women who underwent the training are Atuai Deng from the Sudan by way of Texas, and JuJu Ivanyuk from Russia. Both are, of course, tall, thin and gorgeous, as we learn from Episode 1. Anastassia’s job is to teach them how to walk the runway before the fall ‘09 New York shows. First, she puts them on a balance beam to walk in very tall, thin stilettos (photo at top). Don’t worry: Both girls wear a rig that keeps them from falling to the ground. The whole thing is, frankly, a bit frightening to watch as they fall, over and over and over. More of the same can be seen in Episode 2. (We won’t give away the ending on this one.) In Episodes 3 and 4 we watch our earnest teacher help her pupils learn to walk the catwalk with a huge wind machine blowing at them. That wind makes for pretty pictures, but keeping one’s balance becomes just that much harder. The tricky technique of swinging one’s hips from side to side (above) without moving the shoulders, maintain good posture and proper speed, all while teetering on 6″ heels, proves almost too difficult for Atuai, who is near tears in pain after hours of practice (below). Anastassia reminds us that “beauty is painful.” The finale, Episode 5, shows the girls learning to walk confidently down the streets of New York in those heels, without looking down or stumbling (right). Despite all the staring, picture taking and general public hubbub over their efforts, they succeeded. And, in the end, the two get to strut the runway during the Christian Siriano show (He is one of the winners from Project Runway, the reality show with a much-coveted prize for would-be designers.). Advertisement Don’t you just love a happy ending? |
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