Your favorite MUA loves to have her in the chair, the hottest cutting-edge designer loves to have her close their show, the producer who worked on a-million-projects-you-would-know loves to work with her. New York based model, Riley Woodell has cemented herself as a NYFW fixture whose reputation precedes her. An advocate for others, a model for setting kind boundaries, and just generally the sweetest girl you’ll meet backstage, Riley is making waves in the fashion community.

Rather than slowing down to sit for an interview, we caught up with her on the fly as she traveled here, there, and everywhere from castings → fittings → presentations → runways during New York Fashion Week.



February 3, 2024. 6:30 pm
This is no calm before the storm. It’s pre official-NYFW calendar season, but Riley is already running. Last night she closed the Twiggy More runway presentation and has spent the day at castings and fittings. We hop on FaceTime to learn more about how she got to this point in her career.

Q: Tell us about your origin story… your evolution as a model. Was this something you were seeking or did it find you?

A: A little bit of both. So when I first started out, it was really just like a heavy dose of delusion. I lived in a small town in North Carolina and I had people (who really didn't know anything about fashion) say “You're tall. Have you ever thought about modeling? You seem like you could do it.”  And enough people said it to me [that] I was like, you know what, let me give this a go. So I decided to try my luck with an agency, and that went really well.

When I was around 17, I got started professionally. Before that, I dabbled in it just a little bit, but it was more like, a friend has a camera, let's shoot some fun photos kind of thing. But then later on in high school around my junior or senior year, it was like, let's go ahead and really let's do it. So I did that for a little while and I kind of was in and out of agencies and I had a lot of wiggle room to do a lot of collaborative work. I do feel like a lot of what's going on in the industry is very collaborative.

Then slowly but surely I decided I wanted to take it more seriously. So that was when I ventured into doing things that are a lot more high fashion editorial, doing things that are more geared towards a very specific branding, which I would say I've really tailored for myself.

I definitely consider myself on the darker side of editorial. Like it's funny, my agency recently told me I need to be less goth and I was like, girl, I don't know… but yeah, I definitely prefer for stuff to have an edge to it, but I want it to be palatable. So stuff that still reads as fashion for people who are not crazy immersed in the fashion community, it makes sense.


February 3, 2024. 12:00pm
It’s the final casting for downtown-NYC fav Jane Wade. Forget about office-siren aesthetics, Jane Wade has been crafting collections for those who actually WORK (WERK) since day one. Kaden, our Visual Director, has just loaned out their wired headphones to the styling team. The scene is a quiet storm akin to humming bees hard at work. It’s an intimate crew of seamstresses, designers, and stylists focused on finishing touches.

Q: You’re very aligned with all of the brands that you work with. You’ve carved out this kind of dark, sexy, vampy niche. We’d love to hear about your creative autonomy within your career and how you grew into this space.

A: Well, it's interesting when you get with agencies, especially when you're young. For me, my agents would give me tidbits of information or advice like, “Here's what we think you should do,” and I would just really take it with a grain of salt. So, I would try to adhere to the rules of the game. But at the same time, I did kind of have a little bit of room to play around and figure out what it was that I actually enjoyed and the types of projects that I enjoyed working on.

When you're exclusive, it makes it a little bit more difficult to have like the wiggle room to try and experiment. But back in the day, a lot of my contracts were non-exclusive. So I really had the ability to just jump into different projects and see what I liked. I got really lucky in that regard, I would say, because I know for everybody, that's not the case. But it gave me the opportunity to try new things.


February 3, 2024. 2:30pm
Riley is running through the streets of Bushwick/East Williamsburg. She’s wrapped the final fitting and is off to her next engagement. We keep pace and take a moment to breathe in the crisp February air scented by the recent, now-melted snowfall.

Q: What have you learned about yourself and how have you grown on the journey? You’re in this career that demands embodiment and demands confidence. So I'm curious, what has your self-growth journey been like?

A: When I was younger, when I was in high school… I was just kind of known as, you know, the thin girl who was the same height as the guys who played basketball. So I wasn't really super interested in what guys thought of me or anything like that. I was never really trying to impress anybody.

I feel like because of that I just developed [the ability to adapt]. I had groups of friends that I would float in between… like I had the girly girls that I would hang out with. Then I had the super tomboy friends. Then I had the band geeks, and the people who play sports, and just different athletes. So I feel like that gave me a lot of room to grow and learn like, okay, I can be this type of person who enjoys people from various walks of life.

So that carried over into fashion because you have people who are from all over the world, especially in New York City, you work with people who have very different backgrounds and different beliefs. The way that I was brought up really helped to set things in motion for the career that I currently have, which is, just being able to stay true to yourself and find ways to just pivot and lean into whatever art form you're working on in the moment.

I’ve learned a lot about my level of adaptability. I really do feel like you have to be that way to be in fashion. You also kind of have to be willing to change things about yourself at a moment's notice when you're doing a shoot or working on a specific project. But at the same time, you've got to be true to yourself, and you have to make it your own. So you have to figure out what works for the brand, the designer, and the project itself while still being true to what it is that you stand for and what it is that you do.

February 4th, 2024. 4:20pm
Our team is en route to the final fitting for Melke’s presentation.
Lily, our Editor and New York Den Mother notes: “As we hustle to meet Riley, Kaden gets slammed by an opening car door. He laughs and we keep walking – there’s no time to react.” Emma, the designer hailing originally from Minnesota, wants to bring Midwestern hospitality and warmth to the stone-cold coolness of the city. Her incoming collection for Melke will be shown as a presentation rather than a runway to similarly instill a sort of intimacy, comfort, and authenticity to the clothes. Contrasting the chaos of the hectic industry schedule this week, she wants to present the clothes with slowness and allow time to digest the collection.


Q: What are the components of an it girl? What are the components of a muse and how to embody that energy?

A: I think it's different for everybody, but I really think at the end of the day, and I sound like a broken record saying this, but just being genuinely kind to people and being genuinely interested in them and what they're doing. People get those vibes – like they understand when you're being genuine and when you're not. So I really just think at the end of the day, being genuinely nice to people and then really cultivating and curating a look for yourself. I like to consider myself a little bit of a chameleon. Like I do a lot of different looks, I do a lot of different things that maybe don't even necessarily have the same overlap other than myself being a common denominator.

So yeah, that's it: be really true to yourself, kind, genuine, those things will get you very far.


February 9th, 2024. 7:00pm
Backstage for Destroyer of Worlds we see an embodiment of family- with babies, nieces and nephews running around alongside the chosen family of Hair, MUA and models.
The minute the show starts, we’re bathed in upbeat techno sounds laden with pop-culture references full of iconic quotes from shall-not-be-named canceled musicians and moments from The Real House Wives. IYKYK!
The setting is that of a classic talk show and we know Joan Rivers would have a field day with the queer, eccentric, genre-bending collection. Riley is almost unrecognizable in a bright orange wig.

Q: We’d love to hear about your community, your support system, and how they impact you…

A: It really does make a big difference. I feel like on the positive side of it, the teams that I am working with ended up being people that are really easy going and really truly talented. And I feel like I've kind of just stuck with that narrative when I work with people:if I get a good vibe from them, if I enjoy working with them, if it's comfortable and an environment where we're being considerate of each other… Then they kind of land in my corner and I land in theirs. And then you  just continue to grow and add onto that as you grow your career in the industry. So that's really just a big thing for me- making sure that I work with people that I really truly like.

I think at the end of the day, yeah, just if we vibe together, then we kind of just grow our little community. It's like a little crochet blanket, you know? It just continues to go like this. You keep crocheting.

I also have a really good support system with my family, I'm married. So my husband, he's very, very supportive of what it is that I do and very proud of me. He's arguably one of my biggest cheerleaders.

My parents are really proud of me. It's funny, when I first started getting into modeling, I feel like my parents were a little bit like, okay, well girl, you know, be careful which direction you go in with that. But I really feel like they're very much in my corner now because they've seen how successful I've been with it and how far I've taken it. For me, having that verbal recognition and support from friends and family is really important as well as in the fashion community.

The good vibes fuel me and I try to let that outweigh anybody on the opposite side that's negative.

Q: Culture is invested in this image of the glamorous supermodel, like champagne and free clothes. However, it’s very much a hustle. Where would you like to dispel some of this glamor ideology? Where can you lean into it?

A: People really do have that perception. I do get a lot of DMs where people are like, “Riley, can you tell me how to get started?” or “what qualities are people looking for?” Sometimes people don't like my answer, because it's just so different for everybody, you know, what worked for me doesn't necessarily translate to whoever's asking me the question. But something I always tell people when they reach out to me is that you really have to just think of it as a hustle. You have to work really hard and I tell people constantly, you have to really want it.

Something that my agent would always tell me when I was in my late teens is that you can't just play model. Like, it's fun to post photos that are beautiful and look like you're doing fun things, but you actually have to lean into the lifestyle that comes with it. I agree with that because you have to be flexible, you have to work around the insane schedule that is fashion, in which things pop up at a moment's notice.

Sometimes people do have this idea that it's just this really beautiful lifestyle and you know, to some degree, it would be nice if it were like that. But, maybe this sounds really cliche, but a big part of getting to your goals is just enjoying the process along the way. So if you are the type of person where you can really lean into the hustle and you really love working hard, like running all over the city, and if you're very business-oriented, which I guess, again, continues to dispel like the mannequin myth, you really have to be very business-minded to be a model.

Even if you get a really good agent, you still have to stay fervent and on your toes because you don't ever want to find yourself in a situation where you're being taken advantage of financially or anything like that. So I really do think that at the end of the day, you have to be a business person to be a model.

February 15, 2025 5:00pm
Backstage preparing for the Bella Pietro runway show. A feverish buzz is in the air of the old synagogue. Playful rumors swirl around the history of the cathedral space including acknowledging Lady Gaga’s old dressing room or divulging events that occurred for Alexander McQueen’s 1996 Dante presentation. It’s beauty and blasphemy for this gothic bridal presentation pulling influence from Ballets Russes, a pioneering Russian ballet company that prioritized collaboration amongst creatives.8:00pm
The raging buzz quiets as the audience shuffles in and attention is shifted to the theatrical experience. No horse-walks here, each model embodies wild movements inspired by ballerinas and vampy-creatures alike.

Q: Ok so how are you feeling now? What are you excited for? What are you looking forward to? How is this season different from last? Like, I don't know, like your goals, your ambitions, your hopes, your dreams, your fears.

A: It feels kind of like I planted a seed last year you know and then like I've watched it grow - honestly feel like every fashion week feels like that because you know it's like maybe I would say several seasons ago you plant the seed and then every single season you get like a new leaf or a new little branch and it just continues until you've got a full-grown tree with flowers and it's fragrant …it's a growing continual process.

For this season, I am just really trying to soak it all in. Even though it can be a crazy swirling storm of, emotions and things going on at the end of the day, it's extremely rewarding.