Audrey Smaltz has spent her working life backstage at other people’s fashion shows, and at 89, the name on the cover is her own.
Her memoir, Every Inch A Lady: My Amazing Journey from Dear Harlem to Haute Couture & Beyond, written with Alina Mitchell, is out from Amistad at $27.99 in hardcover, with a foreword by Michael Kors.
Smaltz is six feet tall, was born in Harlem and lives in Delaware. She trained at Orphelia DeVore’s Modeling School and was modeling in fashion shows at 15. From there she went to Bloomingdale’s as a modeling and sales expert, then Lane Bryant Clothing, then, in 1962, to Wall Street as a mutual fund broker. Jet put her on its cover that year.
She left finance for the Ebony Fashion Fair, where she was a commentator and fashion editor and traveled through Europe with Eunice Johnson. “It was fabulous being a part of the Ebony Fashion Fair,” she said. She also worked as a department store executive and wrote a column for Vogue.
In 1977 she established The Ground Crew, which has run the backstage of other people’s shows ever since. Clients have included Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole, Vera Wang, Giorgio Armani, Betsy Johnson, Ralph Rucci and Nanette Lepore, as well as Nike, Vogue, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s and J. Crew.
Her advice has not softened. “If you want to become a model, it’s important to look the part,” she said.
