He's looking for you, kids!

THE truth of the matter is that only goddesses need apply. But having admitted that, John Casablancas, the chairman and founder of Elite Model Management Corporation, self-touted as 'the world's number one model management group', says he's willing to turn a blind eye to a few less than celestial features as he searches the remotest regions of China for the next supermodels.

The Italian-born mogul, who runs central headquarters for the multi-million-dollar contours of Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington and some 700 other models, says it doesn't matter that mainland Chinese girls believe a state-of-the-art fashion statement involves equal parts of plaid and floral polyester with randomly attached bows and knee-high tan pop socks. ('You know, they sound just like American girls,' Casablancas says, laughing. 'You walk the streets in the United States and that's all you see. So I don't know what to do with American girls either.') He says that not-so-pearly pearly whites, the result of too many sweet lotus paste buns and not enough toothpaste, are, well, workable. 'You should have seen Paulina Porizkova's [model from the former Czechoslovakia] teeth when she first started. They were stained and sticking out from all corners of her mouth. So you see,' purrs Casablancas confidently, 'brown teeth are not a problem.' Blowing one's nose into one's hands, belching loudly, random spitting - these are not the best habits to display on the catwalks of Milan. But Casablancas is convinced that he can take a barefoot village girl from, say, the outermost regions of inner Mongolia and have her sashaying in a pair of Manolo Blahnik suede mules within the year, her 180-degree transition into fast-paced Western life made as deftly as a runway twirl.

'It doesn't matter if it's a northern village in China or a small village in south Yorkshire. We try to start working with girls, turning them into models, from 16 or 17, at an age early enough so that they're still very - how do you say it - malleable,' he says, his accent betraying his Italian origins. 'It is one of those things that has always fascinated me. You go some place like Russia and you find a young girl who is hungry for everything: culture, fashion, experience. You put her together with young girls from Texas, Ireland, South America, and after two weeks together they're like fish in a pond.' And he does not mean a goldfish among sharks, either.

Although it should be said that Casablancas has a reputation for being the Hugh Hefner of the Vogue and Elle set, transforming young runway beauties into his own private dancers, he is perhaps the world's most accomplished model scout with a finely honed eye for rare beauty. He even 'discovered' his present wife in the line of duty. He was judging the Elite-sponsored glam-fest, The Look Of The Year finals in South America, when he first laid eyes on his 20-year-old bride-to-be. 'I did not date her until she told me that she did not like modelling. That's when I fell in love - only after she left modelling,' he says. 'That's how professional we are.' But rest assured all you mothers in Mongkok, that is not why Casablancas has made the journey from his offices on Manhattan's lower east side to the Regency lounge of the Grand Hyatt in Wan Chai, where he is surreptitiously indulging in sugared doughnuts from the breakfast buffet. ('Don't look,' he grumbles, tearing off another bite and sounding uncannily like one of his near-bulimic charges. 'I'm supposed to be on a diet.') No, he's here to announce, amid much Canto-buzz in the Hong Kong fashion industry, the opening of Elite Hong Kong.

'Now, I say this immodestly, but we are the most powerful and the largest agency by very, very far. We are obviously, to a certain degree, trend makers. And I think what we're doing is a trend-making breakthrough. By coming here we are making a very strong statement.' That statement being that the soft-focus days of Hong Kong as a repository for third-rate models is quite possibly over. For too many years Hong Kong models have been more famous for their uproariously bad head shots (fingering a dimple seems to be a favourite pose) than their cutting-edge style. But Hong Kong, says Casablancas, has everything that other sophisticated markets have: buying power, a passion for fashion, great shopping malls. 'All it has been missing is the presence of a really good modelling agency.' Elite Hong Kong's mission is a 'three-part set of goals'. Expect a visit, for example, from Elite's leggy one-name wonders (Naomi, for one, is due to hit these shores next year). 'It's not like Linda and Christy will be coming to Hong Kong every day, of course,' says Casablancas. 'But on the rare occasion, yes. It's about bringing the whole experience of New York and Paris to Hong Kong. What this does is give the whole industry a major boost.' Casablancas also envisions high-calibre international models circulating through Hong Kong on an ongoing basis. 'With all due respect to our future competitors [local model agencies], they do not seem to have very high standards,' he says. 'The models here still look like they're from a provincial city. But Hong Kong is not provincial at all.' Elite will also use its Hong Kong base as a headquarters for scouting out 'oriental' models to send to the West. 'We have ambitious plans to scout all over China, to do very, very thorough research and to find young women who we will take to London, Paris, Milan.' Part of that plan is to take China's beauty pageants past the hokey 'Miss Shenzhen' stage. In March 1995, Elite will help to produce the Shanghai International Fashion Cultural Festival, the country's first international modelling competition. The festival's co-ordinator, Hong Kong's ubiquitous Flora Cheong-Leen, has already been enlisted by Elite to guide it through the expanses of the Middle Kingdom in search of beauty. 'China is opening up,' gushes Cheong-Leen, a former model herself. 'And now is our chance to bring all these lovely tall girls with perfect skin and a natural glow out into the world.' 'We're thinking of bringing the International Look Of The Year into China,' says Casablancas. He 'loves' the idea of holding the finals there in the year 2000. 'Ah,' he says with a sigh. 'What a beautiful way to begin the century.' FOR Casablancas, Chinese beauty is about dignity and strength. 'This is a very personal remark,' he says. 'But I get the sense that China is a very matriarchal society. Chinese women are not shy to manifest their intellect. For example, it's such a difference from Japanese women, who are so reserved. I think once we get a regular movement of Chinese models, they're going to fit right in. Chinese women abroad always seem to become symbols of elegance.' And although Casablancas has yet to make his first trek into China, he is confident that he will find that elusive combination of sublime looks and Amazonian height. 'I've been watching the Chinese basketball teams and the volley ball teams,' he says. 'And I know that you have regions where you have very, very, tall people.' Casablancas has scouted prospective supermodels on slick city streets, dusty village paths, even airport runways, all over the world. 'I once held back an entire plane of tourists in Sweden because I wanted to talk to this one beautiful girl and give her my phone number.

'I sometimes make bets with my scouts in cities all over. I tell them that in one day in their city, I will find so many beautiful girls. And I always win my bets.' So what if the world's next supermodel is currently dressed in a Mao suit, collecting chillis in the fields of Sichuan province? 'Well, of course I will find her,' he says, with a glint in his eye.