Ten days to go before the catwalk show and designer Sugimoto Chiyuki faces a critical decision. Who will show off the clothes he has spent the last six months creating for these Tokyo Collections?

Today is the day of the all-important casting, and outside the Ebisu offices of his press agent, a steady stream of minivans with blacked-out windows pull up to drop off 180-cm 16-year-old beauties, clutching portfolio testimonials of their photogenic talents.

Five fashion bigwigs sitting behind the desk upstairs will see more than 80 girls, from 13 different agencies, before finalizing the lineup of a dozen models for the big show.

Today's event, like almost every other major casting in the city, is being orchestrated by Bobby Tanabe. As the undisputed king of the city's model scene, having been casting for fashion events for almost 20 years, Tanabe has the business as good as sewn up.

"We do almost every show on the Tokyo Collections schedule," he explains. "My company, Hype, negotiates a fee up front; the client explains what kind of look they want, and we arrange for the appropriate agencies to bring suitable girls."

According to Chiyuki, personality, not looks, is the key here. "I'm not looking for celebrity appeal, I'm looking for character -- so unconventional looks are a plus."

Though Japanese models can be had at a fraction of the price of even mid-range imports from eastern Europe, like all the top designers at the Tokyo Collections, Chiyuki feels that Western girls make his creations look more attractive. Aside from their elegant proportions, European faces project a more international, cutting-edge image for Japanese brands, he believes.

Already this afternoon, many of the girls have been at work for 10 hours, and the atmosphere in the waiting room is subdued -- until Brazilian stunner Clara swans in, that is. Her wavy brown hair and flawless English help her stand out among the sea of long blonde locks and Russian mumblers.

As the girls are summoned in one by one, their agency handler delivers a little sales pitch, under the supervision of Tanabe, of course. "This one's done Dolce & Gabbana," or "This one is very moody when she lets her hair down," they explain. Chiyuki and his cohorts betray little emotion from behind their sunglasses. "How old are you?" asks the press agent. "Sixteen," comes the reply. "OK, thank you."

When the team's interest is aroused, they have a girl try on an outfit or walk the length of the office; they might even want to see a pose or see their potential clotheshorse adjust her hair. Clara goes through the full routine, and her minder seems confident of getting a good deal.

Promoting beautiful young things is a potentially lucrative business; a high-profile face can command a fee as high as 750,000 yen for three trips up and down the catwalk -- about 15 minutes' "work." Newer girls can expect around 200,000 yen. It's understandable then, that during the collections, there can be as many as 120 models available for lucrative runway duty.

The girls themselves don't see any of the money until much, much later, probably when they get back to their home countries. By then, their agency has taken a 30 percent commission and deducted expenses. After all, bringing girls over is a risky investment. Flights, visas and apartments all add up, and the money doesn't come rolling in until they've worked hard to get them the necessary exposure. Then there's always the danger of (expensively) misjudging a model's appeal to the Tokyo fashion set.

Even Clara, now a star of high-profile Tokyo shows like NAiyMA and Dress Camp, has not always been such a hit here. "I came for a month a few seasons ago, but I only got one job and didn't make enough money to fulfill my contract, so the agency sent me back to Sao Paulo."

However, it turned out that Clara's time in Tokyo was worth it after all -- she had been to a casting for the Chanel roadshow, an epic promotional tour of every major city in Japan. "When my agency heard that I had been picked," she says, laughing, "I was sent straight back to Japan on the next available flight." Now, as the face of Etro, with scores of catwalk shows under her belt and a fashionable New York address, Clara epitomizes the work-hard, play-hard jet-set lifestyle of the successful model.

Clara claims to enjoy working in Tokyo -- perhaps because this is the city that gave her that crucial first big break. "The clothes here are really high quality, very creative and never too commercial or boring. The people are really nice too, and the designers are very good to me -- I get to be the opening or closing girl almost every show I do."

Backstage before the Chiyuki catwalk spectacular, as Tanabe's minions usher the starlets into their dressing rooms, Clara stands dwarfing the Japanese girl fiddling with her skirt hem. "I like working with people who like me for my personality," she says, exchanging grins with her employer for the evening. The lights dim, the girls step out and the show is a roaring success.

The audience is happy, Chiyuki's happy, Clara's happy and Tanabe, who, when he's not orchestrating this most glamorous of introduction services hangs out at his restaurant in Bali, is very, very happy.