Summary: Wilhelmina Models is a modeling agency founded in 1967 by the supermodel Wilhelmina (Wilhelmina Cooper) in Manhattan. The agency was sold in the 1990s to Dieter Esch, who made his daughter Natasha President as a twenty-first birthday present. In 1999 Brad Krassner purchased 50% of the company and together with Dieter Esch now run the company. The Wilhelmina Guide to Modeling (ISBN 0-684-81491-9) was published in 1996 by Simon & Schuster, New York. Although authorship is attributed to Natasha Esch, actual writing credit is given to C.L. Walker, who was a Wilhelmina model at the time. At the time of its publication, the book caused something of a scandal in the industry because it revealed closely guarded secrets regarding the management of models and the realities of the business. The Wilhelmina agency has offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. In 2007, Wilhelmina came together with Charlotte, NC based agency, Evolution (founded by Scott Cooper) and Evolution became Wilhelmina-Evolution.
