From Colleyville to the Catwalk

Ali Michael didn’t plan to model until two years ago when a friend’s mother suggested she attend open casting at Dallas’ Kim Dawson Agency. The agency was impressed but told her to come back for its local model search competition, when her braces would be off. Six months later, with newly aligned teeth, Michael won the search. Now 16, the Colleyville native is getting the exposure few models of any age receive. Casting agents call her a “must-book.” At this winter’s New York Fashion Week, Michael appeared in 14 shows, three of which she opened: Cynthia Steffe’s, Phillip Lim’s, and Alice Roi’s. She then flew to London for two shows (one of which was Marc by Marc Jacobs). Then on to Paris for casting calls with, among others, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. And in March Michael appeared in a 10-page spread in Teen Vogue. “She’s the whole package,” says Lisa Dawson, director of the Kim Dawson Agency. “She’s professional, driven, responsible, passionate—and is nice to top it off.” Despite Michael’s schedule, she says, “Not graduating from high school is not an option for me.”