Hot new trend @ Fashion Week: 'The Gap'

Gaptoothed Celebrities Flaunt Their Smiles-WSJ

by RACHEL DODES

Struggling with a sense of alienation following the death of his father in 2008, fashion designer David Delfin asked an orthodontist to insert a bracket to open a space between his two front teeth.

“It was a metaphor for the separation I was feeling,” said Mr. Delfin, who called his spring 2009 collection “Diastema,” the medical term for a space between two teeth, usually in front.

It turns out Mr. Delfin was ahead of the fashion curve. At model casting calls for New York’s fashion week, which begins today, one of the most coveted attributes is an affront to modern orthodontics: gapped teeth.

The look is a bold departure from recent standards of idealized beauty that have rewarded curvaceous and perfect-smile models, such as Doutzen Kroes and Miranda Kerr, with high-profile ad campaigns.

Instead of perfection, designers now want what casting directors call “characters.”

“I think people want to see something different, something off,” says casting director Natalie Joos, who is selecting models for the runway shows of Lacoste and Cynthia Steffe.

Other distinguishing characteristics in demand this season include tattoos, piercings, scars and even albino coloring.

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Alasdair McKellen / W Magazine

We wonder what will be in season next year?…. Eczema?  Or maybe some good old fashion Acne?

I guess this means there’s hope for all of us mere mortals who have secret desires of celebrity and tons of ‘character’ to boot. Ha!

Best.

JB