The idea for these interviews was hatched during NY Fashion week this past September, when Ernest and I noticed supermodel Paulina Portizkova covering the shows for the E! Channel. On the way to the Helmut Lang show, we became embroiled in a discussion about how the recent explosion of the media has affected modeling.

The media has to a large degree elevated models from simply being 'clothes hangers' to media celebrities who host TV shows and are themselves the subjects of print and TV tabloid stories. This raises even more questions such as: How have the girls themselves changed? In this time of the nano second attention span, who 'makes it' and why? Who are the influence peddlers who create the supermodels?

About a year ago, when I was the model bookings editor at the now defunct New Woman Magazine, my editor in chief asked me if there was such a thing as 'good commercial' (work) and if so, should we consider putting such a girl on the NW cover? The answer to this is one of the things that has changed over the years, thanks to the media and the role it has played on 'making' or breaking a girl's career.

I interviewed for this "roundtable" discussion four of fashion's best known models whose careers span from 1977 to the present day. I also spoke with Doni Miller, a booker at NEXT Model Management to get his take on these issues.

All interviews were conducted by me both in person and over the phone. I want to thank everyone again for taking the time away from their busy schedules to sit down and talk to me - Vivian Kelly