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Henry Thomas

Founder, Arqa

The rising star broke into the industry casting for the Lanvin menswear show and now taps the likes of Julia Nobis and Stella Tennant for Balenciaga campaigns.

Biography

Searching around the world for fresh faces, Thomas is tasked with the challenge of crafting the runway line-ups for a slew of brands, from Christopher Shannon and Alexander Wang to Lanvin and Balenciaga. Represented by London’s Bryant Artists creative agency, Thomas now works as the casting director for Jil Sander , while having added  Benetton, Emenegildo Zegna, Lemaire and Document Journal to his casting roster just in 2019.

Thomas studied fashion at Edinburgh College of Arts. Once graduated he started working as a pattern cutter at Alexander McQueen . He then went on to assist Cypriot-born stylist and fashion editor Panos Yiapanis , followed by Another Man creative director Alister Mackie .

Whilst working with Mackie, Thomas was casting jobs on the side. Mackie approached Thomas to cast men for a Lanvin campaign, which he has been doing for the past few years. Following his casting stint at Lanvin, Thomas set up his own fashion casting agency, Arqa. On the lookouf for fashion’s newest faces, Thomas was also behind breakout model, Radhika Nair’s debut in 2012, the first Indian model to walk a Balenciaga show in Paris.

Additionally, Thomas is a casting director for fashion publications including Arena Homme +, Interview, Self-Service, System, WSJ Magazine, Bon, Re-edition and Hero

Education

University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Vital Statistics

Born
18 March 1981
Nationality

United Kingdom

Location
United Kingdom
Member since
2016

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What is The BoF 500?

The people shaping the global fashion industry, curated by the editors of The Business of Fashion, based on nominations and on-the-ground intelligence from around the world.