Lisa Carter – A fit model

Simon: And how far off was the next Show?

Lisa: Oh it was imminent. I think I’d got good timing for that somehow. I’d managed to contact her at the right time, and I think Joseph Kohn may have also maybe suggested that I contact her if I … I’ve got a vague recollection of him saying, “You know she does Fashion Shows, maybe get in touch with her.” He kind of took me under his wing as well, he was very sweet and gosh, he introduced me to … I can’t remember the House now, the Fashion House now, it was a big one in London and I mean huge. It was like a … I can’t remember now but I remember being so scared and it was to be a fit model.

Simon: What is a fit model?

Lisa: A fit model will go into the showroom of the Sales Team of the Designer and wear the clothes for the Buyers, so it would be people like Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, or Brown’s Boutique and everything. All their Buyers would have a private show and the model would do that like in-house or it would be to do fittings on for the Design Team in-house as well. When the garments have got to a certain stage where it’s ready to just be tweaked, then they need a model of the right proportions that fit their design perfectly, to then stand there and have adjustments done on the body so there would be two roles to that job. And I remember speaking to the lady that Joseph had connected me with, and she was asking me, you know, “Can you do this, can you do that, are you going to be comfortable?” you walking in front of these people and all of this and I think I was 18 or 17, I was just overwhelmed and she said, “Right, send me your model card and your details and I’ll come back to you” and I never sent it ‘cos I was just too afraid.

Simon: Wow.

Lisa: Such a shame, such a missed opportunity ‘cos that would have been incredible.