Model Watch: Talea Lischetzki from Big Island, Hawai‘i

Big Island beauty Talea Lischetzki has been taking the international fashion scene by storm, coming off an exhilarating Spring/Summer 2019 season that landed her in the Chanel and Marc Jacobs shows and posing for some of the industry’s top photographers. We talk with the model-on-the-rise about crazy castings, getting discovered at Foodland and her epic phone call with Naomi Campbell.

February 21, 2019

Brie Thalmann,

Marc Jacobs S/S 2019

photos: courtesy of nomad mgmt.

Age: 24

Agencies: Nomad Mgmt., DNA Model Management

Hometown: Mauna Lani, Big Island

Currently lives in: Queens, New York

Fave local labels: “Manaola, of course. San Lorenzo bikinis—when I’m home I surf every day. Toasted Hawai‘i for dainty layered necklaces.”

Go-to local SHOP: “Persimmon [in Waikoloa]. They have lots of flowy dresses and cute jewelry.”

Surf spots: “Ritz Right, where I learned how to surf, and Pānī‘au just two minutes away.”

Chanel S/S 2019

How did you get into modeling?

One of my first experiences was with Manaola back in 2010. I was working at Foodland and designer Manaola Yap saw me there and asked if I wanted to model in his show on O‘ahu. Then I met Damon [Rutland] and Roman [Young] in 2015 during HONOLULU Fashion Week and joined Nomad Mgmt. After I moved to New York this June, things started to take off.

S/S 2019 was your first New York casting season. What was that like?

It was pretty crazy. You have X amount of hours to run from one casting to another. You wait an hour to do a 10-second walk, they say thanks and then you don’t know. You get to meet other models and bond though, since you’re at all the same castings, which is nice.

How did your first magazine cover come about?

Love Magazine was doing an Instagram model contest [for its Fall/Winter 2018 issue]. I submitted and never thought anything of it. As the magazine was about to come out, Naomi Campbell called my agent at DNA—she’s with DNA as well—and told me over the phone that I won. I was so in shock.

What was the photo shoot like?

That was my first high-fashion editorial. Mert and Marcus shot it. The wardrobe was all Chanel. I felt like a little girl in a candy shop.

Then you booked the Marc Jacobs S/S 2019 show. What was it like walking your first New York Fashion Week runway?

The theme was extravagant—it reminded me of a tea party in Alice in Wonderland, but a fashionable one. My look had lots of feathers and lots of colors. It was a big outfit. I thought I was going to pass out from the adrenaline of it all. I don’t think I took a breath the entire time I was walking.

And the Chanel S/S 2019 show?

I got to meet Karl Lagerfeld, which I never thought would happen. He was at the fitting approving all the looks. The show’s venue (the Grand Palais in Paris) is one of the most beautiful places. The way they transform it every show is amazing. They made it into a beach, so I was like, this feels familiar.