Casting director Anita Bitton gives you mystique in London . PH: Marc Pilaro

TI: Can a bad casting destroy a show?.
AB: I don't think so, I really don't think so.

TI: Vice versa?

Whew! The magnum opus of an interview I conducted with Ms Anita Bitton, eminent proprietress of the casting establishment called The Establishment is finally ready for upload at MDC. I loved every second of the afternoon (that faded unto evening) with Ms Bitton and emerged from the experience a fan. I can't wait to see, for instance the doings at the Alexander Wang SS 10 or what the final cull on that Love magazine assignment might be. Casting is such a strange and subtle business I find it astonishing that its become such a high visibility pursuit in recent years. A lot of what we discussed was off the record but Anita did touch an issue I hadn't given much thought to since it was such an incidental point, but at one juncture she took note of the kind of imagery art photographers who were crashing into the fashion world were creating. She gave a head nod to Ryan McGinley's work and now that the Missoni with Hanne is in full circulation I see what she was talking about. Another great thing this long cafe conversation reminded me of was the sheer joy of interacting with an active and exciting mind. Hope you enjoy reading the piece as much as I did the actual conversation.