Each new season comes with a new cast of fresh faces – a line-up of models debuting on the runway ready to take on the world, one catwalk at a time. London Fashion Week has only just begun, but it’s already found its breakout star in Walt Yotka, the 75-year-old New Jersey native and father of former Vogue Runway editor Steff Yotka. Walt took a trip to London for the very first time this week to walk Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena’s spring/summer 2025 show for Chopova Lowena. Here, he tells Vogue about the launch of his modelling career. A star has been born.
This was exhilarating. It’s one of those events that Steff and Emma and Laura had talked about in the past, but never really happened, and then they asked me and I was energised by this great idea. Of course Chopova Lowena is a brand Steff loves, so I knew I wanted to do this. Next thing you know, I’m on a plane to London. I am very grateful to Emma and Laura for having me and for this experience.
I never really dreamt of being in a show, but I used to occasionally, when Steff asked me, write a little note or review of a show for her. The words don’t flow easily for me, because I’m not in the business, but at the same time it was a lot of fun, because I could add some musical vibe to it or some verbiage that was a little, I guess, more natural. Now, I’ve stepped on the runway.
Chopova Lowena is more avant garde. I took notes of certain things I liked. I liked look number 10, number 12, number 17, but really the whole thing. It’s the intricacies of what they do to the clothes that is impressive. Not everybody is aware of how intricate and how nice it looks [in person]. The skirts with the combination of materials and the carabiners I think are great – there’s a lot to work with! I also like other lines like Christopher John Rogers and Dries Van Noten. I really like Dries. Dries brings the colour for me.
I got to London on Thursday, and since my wife and I are here for the first time, we’re going to sightsee and then go to Paris. You have to take advantage of what you’ve got, and we made the trip here, so we’ll see the things that are somewhat historic, and then have a good time and a croissant.
When I first wound up going to the Chopova Lowena showroom to have a fitting, it was comical because obviously things did not fit me at all. I’m holding my trousers up, holding my shirt closed, and then one of their associates, Vicky, was coming to measure me and they’re pinning me up, stitching, and then they disappear and come back and you put it on and it works for an old guy like me. It’s like magic, a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the company of the people.
Today when I woke up, my daughter and wife wanted to do a little more sightseeing, which I kind of reneged on as I was still a little hungover from doing the sightseeing trip the day before as we walked quite a lot. Instead, I relaxed, and then I got up and started prepping – took a shower, put some regular clothes on – and then they came back and Steff took me to the venue to meet Emma and Laura and some other folks she knows there, which seemed to be everyone.
Then it started. You get a little sandwich and a soda, and then somebody comes to polish your nails, then your hair, then someone helps you get into your outfit, and you move on from there. It’s like a conveyor belt; you don’t have time to get over-excited while you’re in it. But it was really interesting to be behind the scenes. I’ve seen collections on Vogue Runway because of Steff, but, being there, it’s really incredible the amount of people that are there.
It sounds strange, but it’s a weird feeling, in a way, to become a celebrity. You know, I’m not an actual celebrity, but because of what you are doing, there are all of these people putting these clothes on you, and then there are photographers asking you to pose, and I’m not a pro, I look the same almost every time in pictures. I may be going through it a little too quickly, but believe me, it was a lot of fun, exhilarating doing those stops. It kind of even took the anxiety away, because the people were really social and that took away the nervousness and apprehension I had about my walk.
I’m not as fast as the other people, they are a lot younger than me. The first thing that came to my mind when they asked me to do this is that I don’t walk like a model. I’m older, and I take shorter strides, so I was concerned about that. The look did not concern me, because I knew that if I did this I was at their discretion; whatever they put on me, I was going to be professional.
Then it was game time. All of a sudden we’re lined up. I’m number eight. That’s when it struck me that I was going to be walking out, when I saw the people filling up the venue. All of a sudden the place is packed and it strikes you that people really do this for a living. They work for magazines and the internet and retail stores, so you know you have to put on your game face and do the best you can.
There were these young ladies behind me [on the line-up]. They’re young, but they’ve done this before. We’re just chatting, but the minute the photographers came over and said pose they went into a whole different look. I thought, you know, there’s a lot to learn here.
As I was walking, every now and then I would look at the audience, which is not what you should be doing, but it was on my mind. Since the venue was one where you walk through a room into another and then another, I had to keep the pace and look confident.
I was really impressed with my look. It was pretty funny, because I had these big flowers on my belt that went from front to back, so every time somebody passed me on the backside they kind of got hooked, so we were attached. I was really impressed with the trousers and, well, the whole thing. It was all pretty cool, and they made it especially for me from what I understand.
Believe it or not, in my everyday life, I like to have a little bit of colour. I’m wearing a Chopova shirt right now with some good colour. I do it to offset some of the dad vibe that I’ve fallen into. I’ll do a turquoise or green or pink polo shirt or something, and contrast that with dark jeans or black, even. I’m pseudo into fashion without being over the top, you know? Though I do have a Dries shirt lying around here somewhere!
I would walk another show, why not give it another shot? I’m not an expert by any means, but it was exhilarating. There are some fun lines I’ve seen out there that I think are pretty cool. I’ve been a fan of Thom Browne and his shorts, because I think I have legs. And I like, on the other side, Brunello Cucinelli – the quality of that stuff is great. There’s also Tom Ford. With those clothes, you feel like you’re James Bond. I would definitely give it a shot if somebody was willing to take the chance again. They would go through my agent, my daughter, of course.
It was pretty amazing to be in Steff’s world. Falling into her world is a lot different and a lot more than I expected. I got to see a whole different side of her. Putting it simply, she knows what she’s doing. I used to always follow her writing when she was at Vogue Runway and I look at the things she’s done now. I see a lot of the good stuff she does, she does a good job. But here’s my takeaway from this experience: It’s not easy to be a model. Fashion, I’ll tell you, is a lot harder than people think.
