Some auto shows put more emphasis on the "beauty" than on the "beast". At the SEMA Show, for instance, models (or girls, as you prefer) often wear sexy bikinis. Not so at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). Not because it takes place in harsh wintertime, but more so because here, ladies who model next to the four-wheeled stars take up a different role these days.
Silently, they model to add elegance to the opulent displays for marques such as Lamborghini. But more and more often we see them evolving into "product specialists" who can entertain or inform about new products. According to Margery Krevsky, they need to "entice customers with facts and vehicle comparisons, not just their looks".
Mrs Krevsky is the owner and CEO of Productions Plus Talent Management Agency. A company with offices in Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles she founded in 1981. Lately, she published a book on the subject of auto shows talents entitled « Sirens of Chrome: the Enduring Allure of Auto Show Models » (Momentum Books).
"I started out producing fashion shows at shopping malls in the early 1980s, but I became fascinated by the spectacle of auto shows - the glamour, the shows, the cars themselves. It was a natural transition of our business model. At least 24 million people attend more than 80 auto shows a year in America, producing some of the best revenue for convention halls".
Her book gives an overview of the fashion and talent industries, along with behind-the-scenes insights, personal anecdotes and hot vehicles with torrid models - like this fur bikini-clad model atop a soviet-built Lada!
"The models really had to become the ambassadors of their brand," said Krevsky. "The talent at auto shows throughout the past century have actually gone though as much of an evolution as the cars themselves."
photo:Philippe Champoux, Matthieu Lambert
SEMA Show girls |
Silently, they model to add elegance to the opulent displays for marques such as Lamborghini. But more and more often we see them evolving into "product specialists" who can entertain or inform about new products. According to Margery Krevsky, they need to "entice customers with facts and vehicle comparisons, not just their looks".
Mrs Krevsky is the owner and CEO of Productions Plus Talent Management Agency. A company with offices in Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles she founded in 1981. Lately, she published a book on the subject of auto shows talents entitled « Sirens of Chrome: the Enduring Allure of Auto Show Models » (Momentum Books).
"I started out producing fashion shows at shopping malls in the early 1980s, but I became fascinated by the spectacle of auto shows - the glamour, the shows, the cars themselves. It was a natural transition of our business model. At least 24 million people attend more than 80 auto shows a year in America, producing some of the best revenue for convention halls".
Her book gives an overview of the fashion and talent industries, along with behind-the-scenes insights, personal anecdotes and hot vehicles with torrid models - like this fur bikini-clad model atop a soviet-built Lada!
"The models really had to become the ambassadors of their brand," said Krevsky. "The talent at auto shows throughout the past century have actually gone though as much of an evolution as the cars themselves."
NAIAS girls |
photo:Philippe Champoux, Matthieu Lambert