- [Interviewer] Looking back,
what's been your biggest accomplishment?
- I'd say,
it's that I graduated high school, for sure.
I worked for that, I studied.
It's not easy in Germany.
And that gives me the opportunity to go to university.
I know it's not much, but, I mean,
my life is still long so..
Hopefully [laughs].
[runway beat music]
[door opens]
- Hi Vogue.
I'm Ludwig, and we're going to the Dior show.
Come in.
I'm from Germany.
Munich, Germany.
Before the show, I always shave,
because I don't like it when they shave me.
It's weird.
I like shaving, even though I don't have a lot of beard.
[electric razor whirring]
Yeah, get some advertising in,
maybe a chance to do some...
Shaver commercial.
Earrings, I think, make people look hot.
I always only have one, and then I wear it all the time
until I lose it or it breaks.
Some people might think it's girly, I don't think so.
It's sad when people think that.
You know, like gender roles and everything nowadays,
it's just nice that you can do whatever.
Cool.
For the show, I just put on something comfortable,
just some jeans, a tee shirt,
and, oh yeah, my leopard socks.
I found them at Top Shop, I think.
You get three pairs for the price of two.
It's my second time coming to Miami.
I'm actually exclusively Dior.
So that means I only work for Dior,
which is really fun, because I get to know everyone
at the studio really well,
and everyone's super nice.
It's a really good way to step into the industry, I'd say.
- [Interviewer] How old are you?
- I'm 19.
Yeah.
- [Interviewer] You look older.
But in a good way.
- But, I mean, all models do, kind of.
I have this theory with models, that you can't really tell
how old they are.
They could either be 18 or like 24.
Some are like, "yeah, yeah, he's 19."
And others are like, "What?! Oh I thought you were like 24."
And I'm like, "Excuse me?"
Okay, let's go and have some breakfast.
I'm really hungry.
[slow rhythmic music]
[silverware clattering]
Thank you, sir.
My family, they support me with whatever I do.
As long as I do something
with my time that's kind of useful.
I don't know for how much longer I'll do this,
but eventually I want to go to university when I have time.
Okay, let's go.
[jacket zips]
[ethereal music]
When I was 16 and a half, I was shopping with my mom,
and then this guy just walked up to me,
and he was like, "Do you wanna be a model?",
and I was like "Huh?"
"Uh, yeah, whatever, yeah sure."
and then gave me his card
and I actually didn't call him for like another four months,
because I--
I don't know why, I kinda was scared I guess.
And then, nothing happened for another two years,
so I was just like, "Okay, this is not happening, bye."
and then I finished school,
he called me right before the final exams, and was like,
"hey, can I meet you again?"
Blah blah.
So I was like, "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Then it all went quite quickly.
I got signed to Wilhelmina London and Premium Paris,
and then right after that I went to London
to do first castings and everything.
So, that's how it started.
First casting, I literally landed,
went to the agency, they took some Polaroids,
and they were like, "okay, you have your first casting
"in an hour."
I was like, "Aaaaaahhh.
" I don't wanna go."
London is so expensive, and everything you pay
out of your own pocket.
You have to pay for your model apartment,
and the flight and everything.
So it's like.
I was literally just spending my graduation money.
And I was like, "Am I actually gonna make money with this?"
'Cause you never know.
Everyone thinks it's glam.
It's not glam.
It's just a job.
If you like to fly and stuff,
okay.
But you fly with an easy jet, because you pay it
out of your own pocket,
it's like --
It's very easy to not succeed in this.
And then it's just very disappointing,
and it's not about you.
You could be a very nice, lovely guy,
but maybe it's just not what they're looking for,
and then you put so much worth into your look,
but it doesn't matter, you can be good at other things,
and you're a wonderful person.
Just because someone won't book you,
it doesn't mean you suck.
If you really want this and it doesn't happen,
it can be very painful, I think.
So, the difference between male and female models:
if you're a top male model, it doesn't mean you have lots
of Instagram followers, or anything,
you can just be a low-key guy,
but everyone just books you
because you have a great look, you're a nice chill guy.
The pressure is not as much,
there's not that much competition,
there's a lot more female models
than there are male models.
I mean, if you become a top female model,
you probably don't ever have to work again.
And, as a guy, I don't think that's gonna work.
It's like probably the only industry in the world where
women make genuinely more money than men.
And, it's sad that it's in an industry
where it's about looks,
but if it's an opportunity to make money and be successful,
then, perfect.
That's good for them.
So, we're here.
As you can see, they painted everything.
The runway's gonna look like a wave,
it's really amazing, honestly.
And this is one of the old Cadillacs, I think,
they're gonna have in front of the venue,
because Christian Dior,
when he was still alive back in the '40's,
he did a collaboration with Cadillac.
They're gonna be in front of the venue standing,
and there are gonna be, like models in front of it.
It's gonna be really nice
and the after part's just like around those cars.
That's crazy, it's really big.
Hey, how are you?
[posh music]
I never cut it, so it's always kinda messy.
I actually love the feeling when someone touches my hair.
It's just very relaxing to me, so I just enjoy it.
She was like, "What color do you want?"
I was like, "Pink" [laughs].
We're going off to get my makeup done.
Lets get this over with.
Where am I going?
[electronic music]
Should I just sit down?
How are you?
- Fine, How about you?
- I'm good, I'm good.
- What's your name?
- Ludwig, here.
[electric razor whirs]
Ah, I thought I didn't forget anything.
I only get my nails done for shows, basically.
[posh electronic music]
So, this is the board with all the looks.
So, the background, it's like the wave inside,
and the artwork comes from Shawn Stüssy,
the founder of the Stüssy street-wear brand.
So, this is my first look, number five.
I have the Cadillac saddle bag,
which is like the special saddle bag for this season.
This is the bag inspired by the Cadillacs.
So, that's really nice, I love it.
This is my second look, number 48.
I like it a lot,
because I just genuinely love black.
I think it's gonna be fun,
and a little stressful changing in between,
but I think it's fine.
I think I can manage.
[intent drum beat]
- Hey, good to see you.
- Hey, how are you?
- Today's look, natural.
Natural grooming,
so as little bit of powder where necessary,
enhancing the eyebrows slightly,
just to give a graphic effect, but in a natural way.
And then about 12-13 boys
have this airbrushed fluorescent yellow lime green stripe
over the face.
It's a bit like a Blade Runner makeup.
Kind of like a tagging, like a graffiti kind of approach.
Women you can really do makeup.
Even when a woman has a natural look,
you can do fake lash, contouring, highlighting, shadow.
For men it's a different approach.
We really try to enhance their natural beauty.
It's about grooming more than doing makeup.
Cool thanks.
- Thank you, very much.
- Thank you.
- See you next time.
- Have a great show.
Bye.
- Let's go, I'm gonna go show you the runway now.
Like, the un-sexiest thing in the world is probably this.
Okay, so this is where we stand
before we go onto the runway.
The lineup goes all the way back there.
We come across here,
that's where we turn and go on.
But its like,
this time its really difficult because the wave form is
kind of low, so we really need to watch out
that we don't hit our head.
You don't want to bow down when you go onto the runway,
so that's gonna be a little bit challenging.
Now, I'm gonna show you how I walk.
It's not that hard for guys,
compared to girls.
You just wanna make sure that you're really straight,
your chin is down, and you walk strong.
Move, bitch.
Being in a line and all the people around really gets you
more focused on how you walk, I think.
So, this is where the cameras are,
so that's the most important part,
because that's where you get your picture taken,
and it's gonna be on Vogue Runway.
So that's what most people see,
the people that are not at the show.
You wanna make sure you don't look weird on your picture.
So, you get your photo taken, and then you turn
and you walk back.
It's just crazy, the setup.
Like you really get that feeling
of the wave they wanna imitate.
I really love it.
Also, how the colors change from blue to green to yellow.
It's really amazing.
Dior never disappoints.
[people murmuring]
He's actually not a model.
He looks like one but he's not.
- I just shrunk in the wash.
[all laughing]
- Yeah, I've had extensions one time and they had
to re-do it like four times.
- Yeah.
- I don't know if I could even...
- No, keep the length.
- It's just glue.
It's just glue honestly.
- Glue in your hair?
It just sounds awful.
- I got, like, artificial bangs.
- It's cute, though.
- It was sick [laughs].
- Have you been booking more since you got rid of the hair?
- Maybe a little bit more, but...
Definitely different stuff.
- I book more since I got longer hair.
- Yeah, yeah that's for sure - Right on.
- That's how it works, I guess.
All right, I'm gonna get dressed now.
So, see you in a bit.
[electronic dance music]
[people talking in the background]
What do you think guys?
I look nice?
[electronic dance music]
- I have to give this back,
but maybe you can buy me one.
- Or we could steal it tonight, Shh.
- Yeah.
[bass-heavy electronic music]
[people talking in background]
- It was so nice to meet you.
- This is my sister, Kourtney.
- Hi.
- Aaahh.
- Let's go!
[up-tempo electronic music]
Let's go, second look!
[up-tempo electronic music]
[crowd applauding and cheering]
- Ludwig, love you!
- Thank you, Vogue, for following me around all day.
This is Ludwig Wilsdorff and I'm off.
Hope you enjoyed.
[up-tempo electronic music]