It was September 1991 in New York and the grand finale of Look of the Year, a prestigious modeling contest that had helped launch the careers of the supermodels Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen.
The celebrity magician David Copperfield, one of the judges, watched from the front row as 58 contestants paraded across the runway in their branded hot pink and sorbet yellow swimsuits. Nearly all the contestants were teenagers; some were as young as 14.
