What he does: Dominik, Bookings Director at Glamour/Condè Nast and Freelance Casting Director

At Glam Observer we want to help you find your place in the fashion industry. We support you with many career tips, the podcast, exclusive industry insights and networking opportunities, fashion conferences and by bringing you the real stories of people working in fashion. Thanks to the interviews with people working in fashion, you can understand how they got their jobs and how their career path has evolved so you may get inspired to find your place in the industry.

Today we are bringing you the story of Dominik Wimmer @dominikwho, Bookings Director at Glamour/Condè Nast and Freelance Casting Director. There are so many jobs in the fashion industry, and we want to help you learn about them all, also about these very interesting but not so well-known jobs such as the role of the Bookings Director.

Hey Dominik. Thanks for taking the time. May you quickly introduce yourself in your own words to the Glam Observer Community?

Many thanks for the opportunity. I am Bavarian born and raised, 34years old and a fashion enthusiast in the true and best meaning of the word. For more than 10 years now, I am in the fashion industry and still loving it. I am always “on the hunt” for “the beauty”. And there is a lot of undiscovered beauty in the world.

A short definition of your job? What do you mostly enjoy about it?

Casting combines many facets: the main part is bringing visions together. Behind every project, there is an idea, e.g. some kind of art or some kind of business idea. The idea needs to be expressed via the combination of the photographer’s vision, the styling, the location, the story and really not at least the model. In my job, I bring all of them together with one goal: making the viewer feel the original idea. – Normally, I am casting the model, bringing her or him together with the photographer I think that matches. Sometimes I also care for the location and propose the styling team. My main contribution is a profound knowledge about models all over the world. Once I have the perfect matching team in my mind, I do everything to make “it” happen. What I enjoy the most? Almost everything, I guess. But the interaction between different people all around the world stands out. And discovering beauty – in the project or in new models I find.

What brought you into the fashion industry?

I guess, it is some kind of passion, or some may say, talent in seeing something that isn’t obvious. I started in the hotel industry being responsible for VIP treatments. That helped me to develop a devotion to perfection and organizational skills. Very soon I had first contacts into the fashion industry, mainly Dior. From that moment, I somehow felt, that I might be able to learn what this industry is about.

Did you always know that you would like to become a casting director?

Honestly, not from the beginning. When I was at the age you first think about what your future profession could be, I mean a teenager, fashion was not as important to young people as it is today. Social media and the all-time access to what’s “up-to-date” changed that.

What does a typical day of work look like for you?

Tough question. Every day is different. Sometimes the creative part is dominant: meetings with the team to develop the idea; sometimes the true casting – the search for the ideal participants – is in the focus and sometimes it is more organising that everything works. What is true is that I am one the phone almost 24/7.

Does your field require any specific characteristics in order to be successful?

I think it is a mix between the ability to communicate and to organise on one side and some kind of talent to understand how beauty works on the other. Beauty is much more than a beautiful face and needs much more to be understood by the viewer. Passion is also necessary: long working hours, availability around the clock and so on. The things we produce in fashion industry do not allow failures or mistakes. You have to seek for perfection to be more than mainstream.

What should one study in order to become a casting director and do you think it is necessary to study something related to fashion or even art and photography?

I think studies that have the focus on organization and communications help the most. And yes, of course it helps to understand how the others – like photographers or stylists – work. On the other hand, I believe that there are many aspects you do not learn by studying.

The Fashion Industry represents a certain grade of glamour to many girls. How would you describe this branch?

Firstly, I think it is not only glamour to the girls, but also to the boys. Fashion and beauty, as art in general, have no gender. But in general, yes, there is the glamourous image. And as we all work on something beautiful, something to bring a good feeling or joy to the people, something that is perhaps useful because it is useless or not so sincere, it is much easier to feel good and enjoy the glamour, the fact of being a role model or something. But I really want to point out, that for everyone, especially the models, it is hard work. So it is well deserved if the girls and boys also gather fame and enjoy the glamour. They all work hard for it and most of the time have only a small timeframe to enjoy it. The fashion industry is fast and always renewing.

Any recommendations for young passionates who want to work in the fashion industry?

Stick to it. Stick to your dreams. It is an industry with a lot of competitors and a lot of people seeking for the fast and easy fame. If you feel that there is more to it, you will probably stand out and succeed.

Last words.

Although we want everybody to understand a fashion picture or magazine with only one view, it is really worth to look at it more closely. You will discover so much more! Fashion is a constantly renewing source of inspiration. I really appreciate that you gave me the opportunity to present my passion, my work and a little bit of me!

Interview by Lilly Meuser