Ashley Brokaw (born c. 1973) is an American fashion casting director, known for her work with Italian luxury fashion house Prada. In 2015, The New York Times said she is "the person who is most responsible for what we think is beautiful."[1]
Early life
Brokaw was raised in England, and then came to the United States to go to boarding school in Connecticut.[1] Brokaw has a bachelor of science degree in international law and organization from the Foreign Service School at Georgetown University.[2]
Career
Brokaw is known for her work casting models in fashion shows.[3] At age 17, Brokaw interned for Juliet Taylor, a movie casting director.[1][4] She started her career in fashion working at Seventeen, then as a production assistant for the photographer Bruce Weber.[5][2]
In 2017 she spoke with Vogue about the increased importance of the 'personal style' of models.[9] By 2021, Brokaw was expanding her search parameters for models to include videos so she can gauge personalities of potential models.[10] In 2022, she publicly supported Ukrainian models following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[11]
^Murphy, Anna (October 14, 2015). "The woman who transforms 'ugly ducklings' into supermodels; Anyone wanting to star in a MAJOR catwalk show first has to get past Ashley Brokaw, says Anna Murphy". The Times (London, England).