On the runway to fashion fame

Katie Krier got the thrill of a lifetime recently when a friend sent her a photo of New York City’s Times Square. There, above the bustling crowds, was one of Time Square’s more than 90 billboards emblazoned with Krier’s photo.

The Belgium resident was actually featured in two billboard advertisements taken out by fashion designers Alexander German and Denise Belyea to bring attention to their brands and those who participated in their Fashion Week show.

“She (Belyea) wanted to get everyone excited about being part of it,” Krier, who heads from Ozaukee County to the Big Apple to work as a runway model for Fashion Week, said.

She had an inkling that Belyea might buy billboard space, Krier said, but it was still a surprise when it appeared after Fashion Week and she was sent photos of the electronic board.

“I was like, ‘Oh my,’” she said. “It was so cool.”

Krier, the daughter of Penny and Paul Krier, is living what is arguably every young girl’s dream.

The 2014 graduate of Cedar Grove-Belgium High School, who earned a degree in journalism, advertising and media from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, started her career in finance and marketing but now earns her living by working at Kohl’s Photo Studio in Milwaukee, where she’s a sample specialist, doing behind-the-scenes work for fashion shoots for the retailer.

She doesn’t usually step in front of the cameras for Kohl’s, although there are times she serves as a fit model or she will be photographed in an outfit to be sent to a celebrity in hopes they will like it.

“I love my career in fashion. For me, I feel fulfilled by being behind the scenes, doing the content creation and seeing things come to fruition,” Krier said.

But her creative side is filled in a different way through modeling, she said.

“I never see myself not modeling at all. It’s a fun way to get involved with creative people,” she said. “The shows are a lot of fun to be involved with.

“But the uncertainty and instability that happens in an art field, it’s not something I would feel comfortable with full time.”

Krier, who goes by Katie Rain as a model — “People don’t know how to pronounce Krier outside Ozaukee County,” she explained — got her start in runway modeling when she was looking for a job during the pandemic.

She connected with some of the photographers she knew in college, where she minored in photography, and ended up modeling for them.

“I helped them build their portfolios and that helped me build mine,” she said.

About a year later, in November 2021, she got her first paid modeling job as the face of a vintage shop in Milwaukee, doing much of its online advertising and content.

She then collaborated with other photographers, worked for other businesses and got her biggest break when she met fellow model Karah Minelli of Milwaukee, who has become her friend and mentor, at a photo shoot in Port.

“She taught me the ropes, how to go to castings, reach out to designers,” Krier said, adding they’ve done work together in Milwaukee, Chicago and New York.

More importantly, Krier said, Minelli “showed me it was possible. I never thought that before. You don’t know how to put yourself in a position or to know the possibilities. It’s an intimidating industry, and there aren’t a whole lot of opportunities around here.”

Minelli took Krier to her first Fashion Week, and they’ve gone to them ever since, trying to spend at least two weeks each time — something Kohl’s has been willing to accommodate.

It’s a journey that takes a lot of preparation and luck, Krier said, noting they do a lot of networking online to see which designers are looking for models, who is creating shows and similar information.

“It’s kind of random,” she said, noting some shows cast models three months before Fashion Week but most cast a week ahead of time.

There are even times, she said, when someone doesn’t show up for a show or a model gets dropped at the last second. Whoever is backstage, willing to go on with no warning, could be chosen.

“It’s very chaotic,” Krier said. “There are hundreds of girls in line.”

Modeling, she noted, isn’t as easy as it looks. Even the runway walk is more than just a walk

“It’s a whole body thing,” she said. “You want to position yourself so there’s not a lot of movement. And you’re playing a character to bring those clothing pieces to life.”

She recalled a recent Chicago show where she walked in six-inch heels.

“They were almost worried it would be a safety hazard,” she said, but by that point she was so used to the towering shoes she kept them on.

Designers, she said, have a particular look in mind for their clothes. Minelli, she said, is very bubbly and gets cast in those parts while she has a “serious” face. One designer, she recalled, said, “She’s perfect. She looks mean.”

“I was offended. That’s not who I am at all,” she said, adding her look tends more toward “high fashion Vogue,” although she recently did a sportswear show, which is a more casual look.

While she works primarily as a runway model, Krier acknowledged she’s a little short for the 5-foot, 9-inch minimum designers typically look for.

And at 28, she’s approaching the time when many models age out of the business.

“I usually can convince people I’m around 21,” she said, adding the fashion world is becoming more inclusive, not just in terms of body shape but also age.

“People are celebrating their age,” she said, adding that for her, the modeling world wasn’t something she would have been able to enter when she was younger.

“I did not have enough life experience to know what I could do,” she said. “The beauty standards were so different too, and I didn’t think I fit the box. Standards have changed.“

Modeling, she said, is something she wants to continue but probably will never be her whole life.

“For me, it’s been good to keep it more of a passion project than a career,” she said. “Everything I’ve done in my life has prepared me to be where I’m at.”