A mix of TLC, Fleetwood Mac and Christmas carols play softly over the speakers of the library at the Hudson Hotel where, by the portraits of cows wearing flowery Sunday hats, an army of leggy models line up for their turn to see and be seen by casting superdirector, Andrew Weir. This past Sunday, from 10 am – 6pm, some 300-400 girls from every New York agency stalked through—three at time—in hopes of being cast in a spring 2012 show.  After being photographed against the library’s curtained-off windows, each model walks the impromptu runway for Weir, sitting benevolently behind a long table with his ACW Worldwide team. Originally from Dallas, Weir possesses all the ease and charm of the South. He’s friendly and personable with each girl, but when someone particularly impresses him he remarks, in a deadpan tone, “She is serving us.”  I sat in on ACW’s casting where not only did I get a sneak peek at what goes into casting for New York Fashion Week but insight into the man at the center of it all.

How did you get into casting?

AW: I was working at KCD doing production for two years and I just got tired of it. So I begged my boss Nian Fish to lo let me do casting and I got Calvin Klein’s men’s show in Milan, working with Mr. Klein himself. I eventually got hired as their Director of Talent, a position that doesn’t exist anymore. Then I left Calvin in 2000. I went home to Dallas that Christmas, then the following January, I started [ACW]. My first job was for Steven Meisel. He hired me for Yves Saint Laurent.

Not a bad first job...

AW: Right? And my second job was a general casting in Europe. I got hired to go around London, Paris and Milan just looking for cool kids.

What shows are you casting for his season?

AW: We have Thakoon, Rachel Zoe, Rebecca Taylor and Jen Kao. I think I turned down something like eight shows, but I can only do four each season. I sat down with each designer and their stylists last week to discuss their specific directions, so I can’t have more than four of those ideas floating around in my head. I don’t see how I could.

What’s the next hottest country or region. We had the Eastern Europeans, the Brazilians, the Dutch…who’s next?

AW: Asia. Never have I seen this many Asian kids in the market. 

[Just as he says this, Varsha, a Wilhelmina model from Nepal, walks up.] 

AW [to Varsha]: Are you the girl I’ve been hearing so much about? You’re like the first girl from –

Varsha: Nepal.

AW: Nepal. You’re the first girl to come from Nepal.

Varsha: Yes.

AW: How long have you been modeling now?

Varsha: 3 months.

AW: How were you discovered?

Varsha: I sent in my pics to Wilhelmina and they flew me over.

AW: I love a proactive girl. We’re going to be hearing a lot about you. What’s your name? [he looks at her showcard] Varsha. Varsha-Varsha-Varsha. Everyone’s going to be talking about Varsha. [to me] I’m glad you were here to see her. [to Varsha] Can you walk for us? Let us have it. [re: her walk] What is that? Are you crazy? That’s in your blood, you don’t learn that. You think you know what a girl’s gonna do, but you never do…

[Andrew then writes “SPECIAL“ on his note sheet.]

AW: We have an unlimited supply of gorgeous girls. I’ve never seen so many great new faces in a season. Ever.

What do you love about casting?

AW: I mean…[he looks around]

[Laughs.] But how do you put this into words?

AW: I was eleven years old and my whole room was completely covered in photos from American Vogue. You know, Irving Penn, that famous photo of Natassja Kinski wrapped up in the snake by Richard Avedon—that you’re too young to remember. Brooke Shields on the cover with “Power!’ in Helvetica on one side. Or “Style!” on the other. And in my parents’ attic I had all my copies [of Vogue]. They were three dollars and much thicker back then. I used to buy one copy to keep and one to tear up. It got so you could see my parents’ ceiling buckling from the pressure and we had to spread [the magazines] out to different parts of the attic to keep it from completely falling in. I’m so lucky, though. I have a great job.

Are you looking forward to any particular show?

AW: No. I don’t really go to any shows. Sometimes I go to Marc [Jacobs], Ralph [Lauren]…Tommy [Hilfiger.] But you’re so exhausted, if you have a minute to go to a show, you should be taking a nap. In Paris it’s different. I go to Dries [Van Noten], Chanel, Lanvin—all the shows you should see. Paris is more civilized.  You’re not running around like a crazy person.

What’s a typical day for you during Fashion Week?

AW: Sleep and work. No parties! Maybe two client dinners. We work from 8 am or 9 am every morning until nine, ten or eleven at night. Sometimes we work later if we can’t figure it out, or if something comes up, like the collection arrives late. But 1 am is the latest we work.

And what do you do to relax after Fashion Week?

AW: We have four days off before Paris Fashion Week, then after that, we go to a desert spa, to detox for ten days and come back to life.

Will the CFDA’s new ruling about girls under 16 being cast for runway shows affect the way you cast in the future?

AW: No, I don’t think so. We’ve always been conscientious about that. If a girl is underage we always ask ‘Where are your parents?’ But there are exceptions. Some girls come with their parents who chaperone them the entire way. It doesn’t apply to everyone but it’s a good rule as a standard.

What’s your next project?

AW: I directed a short, three-minute fashion film. It’s in post-production now. Fashion films are the thing right now, everyone’s doing one. I‘ve been asked before but I always said only if we can do a story. The time was right, though. I wrote a script, we went to Dallas, I flew Lydia Hearst in—we only had her for a day so we had four sets pre-built—and I directed it. All the clothes were [Alexander] McQueen. And we got Tristan Bechet, the guy who did the music for Where the Wild Things Are, to do music for us. It’s amazing. I don’t know if it’s biased to say your own work is amazing…but it is. It’s pretty amazing.

Photos: Richard Guaty