Galliano Molds Model into Designer

Is the next Kate Moss in the making? The beauty seamlessly transitioned from modeling for Dior and Burberry to designing a huge collection for Topshop, and now one of Galliano’s apprentices is following suit. Veteran Dior designer John Galliano used Katerena Alkhimova on his runways for 10 years before the Russian beauty asked to be his assistant and began poring over fabric swatches. After learning the ropes—from production to fabric sourcing to branding—she launched her first clothing line called Basics by Kat. The line only contains two pieces at the moment, one a “body-sylphing sheath dress” and the other a “matching body suit” which Nylon calls “designed for off-duty models (and wannabes).” Don’t worry wannabes, the price is right for a test run—the unusual pieces range from $100 to $200.