Celebrities walking down the runway isn’t anything new. In fact, even the conversation between celebrities and professional models strutting is a tired one. But between the dialogue lies another question, exactly how essential is casting for a fashion show’s success? This past season saw plenty of shows make the rounds of social media not for their collections but for their casting decisions. For Gucci, it was questions about the social media stars that appeared. For Dolce & Gabbana, it was their all-white casting that became a controversial discussion. While for Connor Ives, the same tactic of an all-trans-women cast was a political and philosophical statement. It’s a tricky matter to balance because where one enters the zeitgeist for all the wrong reasons, the other sticks the landing and conveys the narrative seamlessly.
And it is trickier now because fashion is no longer presenting to just one audience. There is still the room itself, but there is also the audience encountering the show through livestreams, instant runway uploads and the flood of online reaction that follows within minutes. By 2026, casting has become inseparable from how a collection is received. It can reinforce the brand’s message, shift the tone of a show or, in some cases, become the story entirely. Every runway now enters a cycle of immediate scrutiny, where individual looks, faces and choices are pulled apart and recontextualised almost in real time. That is why casting is being used more deliberately, not only to support the narrative of a collection, but to shape the kind of conversation a brand wants the show to generate.
Runway modelling is more than just a walk, and designers know this all too well. But after a 2022 report by Karla Otto mentioning the “Bella Effect”, where appearances by the model created an average 29% increase in a brand’s Earned Media Value (EMV), it seems that more designers are attempting to reproduce the same effect. But instead of nurturing an in-house talent, shortcuts are made with influencers, actors, and musicians.
One of the few to deviate from this norm is Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel. Casting strictly models of all ages to showcase how the brand works for every generation, one model, Bhavitha Mandava, quickly stood out from the rest. Her story made her an icon overnight, cementing Blazy’s vision for Chanel and adding to the success of his Metier d’Art show. Becoming Chanel’s muse, Mandava is one of the few models from the recent past to crack beyond and contribute both to a successful show and a viral moment.
This goes to show that in a hypervigilant world where attention dissipates within seconds, casting is more important than ever, and that’s why celebrity models or non-model celebrities will continue to make appearances. With their established audiences, it helps designers get the eyes they need. But with Mandava’s story, the opposite is true to the fashion-forward crowd, who are simply looking for representation and a story to relate to. For the designers, it all lies within balance.
