forbes ·
Forbes - August 2015
NYFW Profile: Meet the Model Whisperer
“You are lit perfectly for the center,” Lynne O’Neill commands. “You’re all actors so hit your mark.”
O’Neill is clad in black, and her voice is gently firm during a rehearsal with barely clothed male models at the Parke and Ronen fashion show during New York Fashion Week: Men’s. It’s clear who’s in charge. As if it’s tradition, she’s getting her picture taken surrounded by strongly chiseled boys, the envy of many women. It’s a fun perk for this job, and her responsibility includes lots of moving (body) parts.
Those in the fashion industry know O’Neill as the “model whisperer,” because she knows how to deal with all the personalities on the runway as well as the characters behind the scenes. That’s why year after year, fashion notables like BCBGMAXAZRIA and Vivienne Tam and others have called on the spunky producer to put the big shows together.
For someone who is small in stature and humble at heart, she’s had a giant career in the fashion industry. Two decades later, O’Neill seems to remain grateful and inspired, especially by the emerging designers who are trying to make a splash in the very passionate but subjective industry.
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