By: Meredith Bahuriak, Barbizon International

At age 16, Mackenzie Moore graduated from Barbizon of Detroit in October 2011. After attending IMTA in the summer of 2012, Mackenzie studied hard and graduated high school after the first trimester of her senior year. In just one short year after her Barbizon graduation, Mackenzie made the plunge to move to New York City. She signed with Model Management Group (MMG) as well as four different top fashion designers. Currently, when Mackenzie’s not on the runway, she attends The Fashion School of Technology in NYC and has begun her own vlog. We sat down with Mackenzie to find out more about her Barbizon experience, fashion modeling career, walking in New York City’s Fashion Week and her Youtube Channel where she has uploaded more than 30 videos with over 15,500 views!

Mackenzie, how was your experience training at Barbizon?
I remember learning lessons from all the GREAT teachers there; I still have managed to keep in contact with them till this day. The Barbizon classes were the first place where I learned how to properly walk the runway.The graduation show was the first time that I actually walked a runway too. It was so much fun!! From my Barbizon experience, I gained knowledge about the industry. I didn’t know a thing about how it all worked when I started the classes. It also gave me the desire to continue in this industry. When I started I knew that it seemed like a fun thing to do, but I had no idea how much I was really going to love it. I realize this has been said a million times, but I did make some great friends at Barbizon. Barbizon gave me confidence. There really isn’t much more to that. It made me realize that with dedication and drive I have a chance of making it in the modeling world.

What has life been like since graduating from Barbizon?
Model Management Group (MMG) gave me a contract with PLITZS Fashion Marketing. From there, I went to audition with them for NYC Fashion Week… and made it! I got to walk in an emerging designers showcase in NYC Fashion Week! I ended up walking for four different designers: Wing Wang by Hao Wang (from Beijing, China), Dangseng Li from Ying Sheng International Art Center (in Beijing, China), Punk Rock Betty Designs, and Live Live Love Life by Steiner Woodruffe. It was such an incredible experience. Walking in NYC Fashion Week had been a dream of mine for as long as I could remember. None of it would have been possible without Barbizon!

MMG Vice President, Aviva Skall had nothing but praise for Mackenzie, posting the photo and comment below to Mackenzie’s Facebook:

“Congrats to my newest model, Mackenzie Moore on booking the PLITZ designer expo for NYC FASHION WEEK!!! We met Mackenzie at IMTA last summer. She moved to NY last week and is already booking high profile work!” Aviva Skall, MMG Vice President

What inspired you to start video blogging?
I started making videos about a year and a half ago, and I absolutely love it. I originally started because I got really into watching the big YouTubers. It has been a favorite pastime of mine for quite a while. YouTube videos are amazing. There is so much variety in the site that you never really know what you’re in for when you sit down and watch. Yet, odds are it’s going to bring a smile to your face. So, when I realized I loved watching the videos so much, the thought occurred to me that I could start my own channel. Through my experience with modeling, I have become quite comfortable in front of a camera. So, I thought why not?

Which Youtube Channels do you subscribe to?
I subscribe to and watch every video uploaded from over thirty different channels. I watch vloggers such as Zoella, Meghan Rienks, the vlogbrothers, sWooZie, Troye Sivan, and ItsWayPastMyBedtime.

How would you describe your Youtube Channel?
My videos are a wide variety of things. It’s really whatever I am in the mood for that day. I do tag and challenge videos such as The Emoji Challenge and The Sister Tag. There are quite a few rant videos on my channel. Sometimes I just need to get something off my chest that is annoying me that day. Like why are movies never realistic? Or why are guys so confusing? My most popular video is actually a rant called The Everyday Struggles of a Tall Girl.

Sometimes I’ll sit down and just tell stories from my life. Plus, there’re a few videos that are related to fashion, which makes sense being that I’m a student at The Fashion Institute of Technology now. The progression of my video quality is quite clear. It’s been a learning process figuring out how to make good quality content. Some of my older videos are cringe worthy to me at this point. Yet, I guess that’s just how the process goes.

Well, it’s a process we certainly have loved watching! Thanks, Mackenzie, for filling us in on your modeling, fashion, and vlogging career! For more on Mackenzie, be sure to subscribe to her Youtube channel!