Tomorrow Is Another Day, the convention-defying model agency that changed the face of fashion

'I like watching everyone,’ says Eva Gödel, the founder of Tomorrow Is Another Day. ‘I can people-watch for hours on end.’ She’s sitting at her desk in the model agency’s Düsseldorf headquarters, recounting how the company came to be, largely thanks to a seismic shift that occurred in beauty standards for men during the early 2000s that was somewhat driven by Gödel and her collaborators: designers such as Raf Simons, Rick Owens and Hedi Slimane; stylists Olivier Rizzo and Joe McKenna; and photographers David Sims and Willy Vanderperre.

Gödel first realised she had a discerning eye for unique faces as a teenager growing up in Cologne in the 1990s. ‘At the time, I didn’t know what model scouting was,’ she says. ‘But I seemed to have a natural talent for finding interesting-looking people wherever I went.’

Inside Tomorrow Is Another Day’s Düsseldorf HQ

During the decade prior, fashion had favoured a so-called ‘classic’ beauty and, aside from the runways of labels such as Vivienne Westwood, Europe’s countercultural ‘weirdos’ were largely to be found on the street and in clubs – where Gödel and her friends felt most at home. ‘My first job was in a clothes shop, when techno music was rising,’ she recalls. ‘Everyone went there to find pieces for going out. We sold brands like Hysteric Glamour and Patricia Field’s label. It then became a skate shop and we were the first in the city to stock Supreme and Union, so I would always meet the cool young kids who came in.’

Gödel went on to study communication design at the University of Wuppertal, with a focus on websites. ‘This was when no one really had a website,’ she adds. Her unique skill set was called on by a burgeoning Self Service Magazine, where she was made German editor in 2000, writing features on her artist friends, including Andreas Gursky, Thomas Grünfeld, Walther König and Rosemarie Trockel. ‘My very first casting jobs were for Rosemarie, for photo shoots, or when she put on a play or performance.’ Gödel still works with artists today, and has filled her office with works by the likes of Anne Imhof and Eliza Douglas (also a model).

But it was in Antwerp that Gödel first broke into fashion. As part of her final thesis at Wuppertal, she put together a website with a roster of faces she had discovered, each appearing as though they could have been drawn by Egon Schiele. ‘I had met Stephan Schneider and Raf Simons because I used to go to their sample sales, so I emailed them to show them my website,’ she says. ‘The day after, they both got back to me and said, well, we have our shows in Paris next week. Can you bring some of the models?’

Gödel hired a nine-seater van to drive the models – all boys around her age – to Paris and back. ‘I was in such a good mood. I took all the boys home through those little German towns just outside of Cologne. They were all partying and pogo dancing in the back,’ she remembers. ‘I was so proud of what the boys had done at the shows and the bond we all formed together with the designers. It was at that moment that I just knew this was what I wanted to do with my life.’

With her first agency, Nine Daughters and a Stereo, and now Tomorrow Is Another Day (TIAD), Gödel and her unparalleled ability for scouting striking new faces has amassed an expansive roster of clients, from Alexander McQueen and Hermès to Comme des Garçons, Loewe and The Row. But what makes a person suitable for a spot on TIAD’s books? ‘First of all, when I look at  people, I not only examine their proportions and facial features, but also how they move and behave,’ she says. ‘Once I was waiting in line at the supermarket and I saw a guy from the back, patiently queuing for a single bottle of water, and he immediately caught my attention.’ The young man, Hanno, ended up in a Raf Simons show, as part of TIAD.

Today, Gödel’s collaboration with Demna at Balenciaga has added, as she describes it, ‘another dimension to my work’, thanks to the Balenciaga team’s unique way of working. ‘They want the models involved in the creative process of putting together a show a lot earlier than other brands.’ For Balenciaga S/S 2020, which took place in Paris in the wake of Brexit, TIAD was given a brief to reflect the diversity of Europe. ‘They wanted a cast of all ages, with different professions and, of course, cultural backgrounds,’ she says. ‘Demna will then handpick the people he likes, and immediately after this, he starts allocating looks for each character.’

Although she isn’t keen on celebrities walking in fashion shows, Gödel does make some exceptions. For Balenciaga in 2022, for example, she worked with Kim Kardashian and Nicole Kidman on ‘Demna-ing’ their walks. ‘Kim Kardashian was so determined to get it right; and the most impressive person I’ve ever met was Nicole Kidman. She was like a chameleon in response to my directions, and so gracious. This show was such a special moment for me.’

TIAD is always ‘looking how to push boundaries’, she says. ‘The great thing is we are independent – no one tells us what to do. And everyone who works here has a valued opinion and is heard.’ Pastoral care is front and centre of TIAD’s ethos, which is why many models have stayed on their books or remained close to the agency for years.

Recent projects include casting the Marc Jacobs campaign for Perfect Elixir, shot by Juergen Teller. ‘This is the first fragrance ad that we’ve done exclusively with our models,’ says Gödel, who has also just opened an office in Antwerp. ‘It’s a nostalgic decision because this is where things really started for me. It so happens that the space was once Dries Van Noten’s first atelier. Olivier Rizzo told me it’s where he and Raf met for the first time.’

For those thinking of starting something new, Gödel offers one piece of advice. ‘Don’t think about what others do,’ she says. ‘Just do it your way. And the rest will follow.’  

A version of this article appears in the March 2025 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.