Michael Kors’s Model Obsession

Michael Kors has revealed that he uses his catwalk as a platform for diversity: "I like the idea of models that can be chameleons." After 33 years in the business, the veteran American designer clearly knows what he likes - and it isn't uniformity.

Michael Kors

"I don't like it when the models all look the same. To me it's so incredibly boring to turn them into mannequins, it's so much more interesting if we have different ages, ethnicities, body types, heights," Kors, who recently launched his first beauty collection, told us. "We run the gamut from Frankie Rayder who's in her late thirties and Karen Elson, to girls that are just starting out who are 17; we go from the fairest of the fair to the darkest complexions. So if I see mannequin-like models, I'm bored, and it's the same thing with women on the street. I want to see them bring their own personality."

So, who has caught Kors's eye of late? "There's a girl called Malaika Firth who I think is gorgeous - she's just amazing; Vanessa Axente - I love her smile - I love a girl that has a great expressive smile; and then strangely, I don't know why, but I seem to have this Estonian obsession. Karmen Pedaru is from Estonia, Carmen Kass is Estonian, and there's a new girl called Elisabeth Erm and she's also Estonian. I think they're feminine, sexy and strong all at the same time. But personality is everything."