Handpicked by Yeezus himself! The road to Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 4 show was rough and rugged … especially for the aspiring models who longed to take part in the Wednesday, September 7, event on New York City’s Roosevelt Island. After the Life of Pablo rapper, 39, insisted that he only wanted multiracial models in a Saturday, September 3, tweet, plenty of backlash ensued. But in return, hordes of beautiful women showed up to the September 4 casting call in New York City. Some even stood in line for six hours, only to be turned away at the door before end time.
Eager attendees, including Mrs. Kim Kardashian-West with Kendall and Kylie Jenner, saw the group of lucky women at the outdoor venue, along with celebs like Chanel Iman, Teyana Taylor and Sofia Richie. The group of models, which included plenty of ladies with natural hair and a wide variety of skin tones, rocked the runway in nude, white and black dresses, hoodies, leotards, bike shorts and more. At least one model tumbled in her high-heeled boots, while another simply took hers off to prevent taking a spill.
But some models, like Gordonnay, struggled to maintain their cool in the sweltering city heat. “I feel so bad!” she told Elle after the show. “For falling! We were standing out here for a long time, but I’ve just been working all week.”
Even though the models had the option of sitting down in the grass where they posed, Gordonnay chose to stay standing … which caused her fall. “Yeah, like your knees lock up. I should be used to it, but I don’t know what happened today,” she continued. “I honestly didn’t want to sit because I felt like this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity … I guess that backfired on me.”
Despite having to fight the 80 degree weather, everything else went relatively smoothly. “We went upstairs around 7 [in the morning], and the fitting, we didn’t really get into any of that. We did hair and makeup … That probably took the longest,” Cassandra (who was scouted at West’s Madison Square Garden show on Tuesday, September 6) told Elle. “But yeah, everything was a pretty smooth process for us, all the girls. We’re pretty close to each other now. We’re all like getting each other’s Instagrams and phone numbers. It’s like created such a fast bond and it’s amazing.”
