Spring 2009’s Top Walkers (Baby Steps Towards Diversity?)

Who dominated the Spring 2009 catwalks?

In the great Darwinian catwalk Olympics, chances of survival past a season or two are slim. Statistically, the industry enjoys a high turnover rate: everyone wants the new meat, the fresh blood. But let’s just say that Style.com’s Top 10 new faces only tells part of the story.

The actual numbers reveal that well-established dark horse models (aka the blue-chips) walked the most shows; in fact, one of Spring 2009’s winners is no stranger to being on top: in Fall 2006, she shattered the record for the most shows ever walked by a model in a single season — 91 shows. (Blind item of the day: which model do we mean?)

Spring 2009‘s winners included Karlie Kloss and Ali Stephens of the cyber-tokened “Calvin Klein Four”. Australian Abbey Lee –cursed with a number of runway snafus–performed respectably overall, and dominated New York with 30 shows under her belt. Wondrous Eniko Mihalik, ubiquitous on the New York runways, walked 56 shows overall, as did Aline Weber — the model that agents purport to be the new Sasha.

Speaking of Sasha Pivovarova, she was noticeably absent: despite an anticipated victorious comeback, she only walked a few shows in New York and Milan. Pregnancy and weight gain rumors surround her disappearing act. That wouldn’t surprise us: the Spring 2009 runway aesthetic was as emaciated as ever.

Model health initiatives continue to fall on deaf ears, but an unrealistic body type isn’t the only industry ideal under fire. Did designers and agents deliver on their promise to make the runways more culturally diverse this season? Kind of. Jourdan Dunn’s and Chanel Iman’s impressive overall walk tally along with Arlenis Sosa’s NYC winning streak suggested better prospects for multicultural cat walkers. Style.com’s new favorite models compromised a “radically” diverse, promising young cast of new contenders. Spring 2009 did indeed upgrade the diversity quotient a shade or two over the Aryan juggernaut of past seasons.

But let’s not kid ourselves: brooding Soviet Bloc models still dominate the scene. Still — minor progress beats none at all, right?

Who belongs to Spring 2009’s elite? We won’t hold you in suspense any longer.
Find out below:

TOP WALKERS OVERALL
Kasia Struss – 72 shows
Vlada Roslyakova – 72 shows
Alyona Osmanova- 67 shows
Karmen Pedaru – 67 shows
Anna Gushina – 63 shows
Siri Tollerod – 63 shows
Olga Sherer – 62 shows
Karlie Kloss – 60 shows
Jourdan Dunn – 59 shows
Ali Stephens – 58 shows
Natasha Poly – 58 shows

TOP WALKERS: MILAN
Abbey Lee Kershaw – 30 shows
Georgina Stojiljkovic – 28 shows
Karlie Kloss – 28 shows
Ali Stephens – 27 shows
Angelika Kocheva – 27 shows
Arlenis Sosa Pena – 27 shows
Irina Kulikova – 27 shows
Liu Wen – 27 shows
Eniko Mihalik – 26 shows
Anna Gushina – 25 shows
Karmen Pedaru – 25 shows

TOP WALKERS: LONDON
Giedre Dukausukaite – 17 shows
Sara Blomqvist – 16 shows
Julia “Juju” Ivanyuk – 15 shows
Adina Forizs – 14 shows
Egle Tvirbutaite – 14 shows
Anna-Maria Urajevskaya – 13 shows
Georgie Baddiel – 13 shows
Jourdan Dunn – 13 shows
Kamila Filipcikova – 13 shows
Anastasija Kondratjeva – 13 shows
Yasmina Muratovich – 12 shows
Vlada Roslyakova – 12 shows

TOP WALKERS: MILAN
Sigrid Agren – 19 shows
Eniko Mihalik – 18 shows
Siri Tollerod – 18 shows
Toni Garrn – 18 shows
Natasha Poly – 18 shows
Vlada Roslyakova – 18 shows
Kasia Struss – 17 shows
Olga Sherer – 17 shows
Ali Stephens – 15 shows
Anna Maria Jagodzinska – 15 shows
Constance Jablonski – 15 shows
Evelina Mambetova – 15 shows
Iris Strubegger – 15 shows
Taryn Davidson – 15 shows

TOP 10 WALKERS: PARIS
Kasia Struss – 26 shows
Siri Tollerod – 25 shows
Olga Sherer – 24 shows
Natasha Poly – 23 shows
Vlada Roslyakova – 23 shows
Anna Gushina – 22 shows
Kinga Rajzak – 22 shows
Sigrid Agren – 22 shows
Alyona Osmanova – 21 shows
Anya Kazakova – 21 shows
Karlie Kloss – 21 shows
Magdalena Frackowiak – 21 shows

SHOW OPENER TALLY:
Natasha Poly – 12 shows
Amanda Laine – 8 shows
Toni Garrn – 8 shows
Sigrid Agren – 6 shows
Yulia Kharlapanova – 6 shows
Anna Selezneva – 5 shows
Anya Kazakova – 5 shows
Georgina Stojiljkovic – 5 shows
Katrin Thormann – 5 shows

SHOW CLOSER TALLY:
Natasha Poly – 11 shows
Lily Donaldson – 8 shows
Abbey Lee Kershaw – 6 shows
Georgina Stojiljkovic – 6 shows
Anna Selezneva – 5 shows
Jourdan Dunn – 5 shows
Magdalena Frackowiak – 5 shows
Olga Sherer – 5 shows
Vlada Roslykova – 5 shows