The Glossary
Every fashion-week term worth knowing, defined in one place.
- The Big Four
- The four cities that anchor the international fashion calendar — New York, London, Milan, and Paris — shown in that order each season.
- SS / Spring–Summer
- A collection designed for the spring/summer season, typically shown the previous September–October.
- AW / FW / Autumn–Winter
- A collection designed for the autumn/winter (fall/winter) season, typically shown the previous February–March.
- Haute couture
- Made-to-measure, hand-finished clothing, largely shown in Paris in January and July; a legally protected term in France.
- Resort / Cruise
- A commercial collection presented between the two main seasons; a major share of luxury sales despite lower profile.
- Pre-fall
- A commercial collection shown before the main autumn/winter season.
- Ready-to-wear (RTW / prêt-à-porter)
- Factory-made clothing produced in standard sizes, as opposed to made-to-measure couture.
- Casting director
- The person who selects which models walk a show or appear in a campaign, shaping its line-up and mood.
- Opening / closing
- The first and last looks of a runway show — prestigious slots usually given to a house’s most important models.
- Look
- A single complete runway outfit; shows are often measured by their number of looks.
- Digitals / Polaroids
- Simple, un-retouched photos an agency uses to represent a model’s natural appearance.
- Exclusive
- When a model agrees to walk only one show or house for a season, often a marker of high demand.
- Go-see
- A casting appointment where a model walks for a casting director or designer, usually in the days around a fashion week.
- Option
- A provisional hold a casting team places on a model before a booking is confirmed — not a confirmed job until it is released or booked.
- Index Rating
- The Cast Index’s public 0–100 editorial score: Runway 40%, Campaigns 30%, Editorial 20%, Cultural impact 10%, with published time decay. Not for sale.
- World desks
- Cast Index market hubs that join ranked faces, the city’s fashion week, season finishes and origin-market beauty on one page. Rankings on those desks are never for sale.
- Mother agency
- The agency that first develops a model and manages their career, usually in their home market. It places the model with other agencies in fashion capitals and normally takes a share of commission from those bookings.
- Placement agency
- An agency in another city or country that represents a model locally through an arrangement with the model’s mother agency.
- Comp card
- A model’s printed or digital card with a few selected images, height and agency details, handed to casting directors and clients.
- Mainboard
- An agency’s main board of established, working models, as distinct from its development or new-faces board.
- New face / development board
- The part of an agency roster for newly signed models still building a book, often working on tests and smaller bookings first.
- Open call
- Published times when an agency invites prospective models to visit in person without an appointment. Many agencies now take applications online instead.