NEW YORK, Feb 5, 2005/ FW/ --- Though this is only the second day of New York Fashion Week, Tiu’s domination on the catwalk is already apparent. She was also seen walking for most of the top fashion houses during the haute couture season in Paris

So, the question that is needed to be asked, is there a changing of the guards in catwalk modeling?

Top models on the catwalk constantly change for a lot of reasons. One very important reason is that sometimes a model will get an exclusive contract with a cosmetics company, and sometimes part of the contract is that they cannot do catwalk anymore.

That happened with Brazilian model Caroline Ribeiro when she landed a contract with Revlon.

Sometimes, they just decide to retire from the catwalk like what Gisele Bundchen did at the age of 21. She started modeling at the age of 15, and after leading the jetset life for six years; she felt that it was time to retire. Of course, landing a lucrative contract with Victoria’s Secret also helped out in making that decision.

At times, models feel that they are just “too old.” In a business where youth is put in such a premium, 24 sounds old, although all over the world, it is considered young.

Some models decide to pursue other careers like Devon Aoki and Ohmyrha who are both pursuing singing and acting careers.

But most of all, it is also the industry that changes the top models as each new look comes out and new faces are needed.