The first thing I warned Mandy Lieveld about is that I hunch like a female Bernie Sanders. “When I walk in heels, it’s like I’m bending under gravity,” I told her. Ms. Lieveld, a former model who instructs others in how to traverse the gantlets known as “runways” in fashion shows, seemed undaunted.
Ms. Lieveld’s job is to teach models — and non-models — how to stride the runway with confidence. She is something of an haute strut savant, transforming gaits from awkward baby-deer steps into militant marches for brands such as Michael Kors, Versace and Bottega Veneta.
I learned of Ms. Lieveld, 40, through the author Zoe Dubno, who was tapped to walk in Rachel Scott’s inaugural Proenza Schouler show in February. Though flattered, Ms. Dubno felt a bubbling panic.
“I have kind of a Groucho Marx walk,” Ms. Dubno said. Worst of all, she would have to walk in heels — which she considered vertiginous torture devices otherwise reserved for hobbling around her brother’s wedding.
The casting team at Proenza Schouler hired Ms. Lieveld, and after two days of coaching, she transformed Ms. Dubno’s gait from a comedian’s clomp to a supermodel’s stroll.
I was intrigued. Could I benefit from the Lieveld treatment? Could she rectify my (undiagnosed but long suspected) scoliosis and transform my slouching-toward-Key Food thud? I booked a 90-minute lesson ($750 for one-on-one coaching) with the posture whisperer in Midtown Manhattan.