Legends of the Fall

Jennifer Silverberg

Fogarty, more secure than on a runway.

Katie Fogarty, one of the teen models I profiled last September in my feature "The It Girls", became infamous shortly after the story ran -- no, no, not because of the powerful impact and global reach of the RFT, but because she fell down at the Prada show in Milan.

The runway was slippery, Fogarty was wearing what appeared to be six-inch heels with nylon socks; in retrospect, it seemed inevitable. She limped a few more steps after a couple of spectators in the front row helped her up and then, very coolly and sensibly removed the torture devices shoes and continued down the runway.

Jezebel blogger Tatiana the Anonymous Model defends Fogarty in a post she wrote yesterday. She will get no arguments from me; I have enough trouble navigating slippery floors in gym shoes. But for those who think they could have pulled off that Milan runway with way more aplomb, just read about how carelessly these shows are thrown together and how the clothes and shoes seldom fit properly without a lot of pins and tape.

Tatiana writes:

And it's no surprise when minor disasters happen, like a poorly designed set causing a series of falls, because this is the first time all these elements were ever combined; there's no rehearsal where you find out the lighting design is going to blind the girls as they walk out, or that the last-minute alterations to that dress are going to cause it to split up the back, or that the floor is like ice under the soles of those Louboutins, so you all have to roll with it in the grand tradition of fashion experimentation.

Fogarty is in New York now for Fashion Week. On Sunday, she had to navigate another slippery runway, this one at Hervé Legere.

But this time she stayed upright.

Karlie Kloss, also profiled in my feature, also finds a place on Tatiana's list of Top 10 All Time Model/Runway Mishaps.