MODELLING AGENCIES GET MORE SELECTIVE: HOW THIS CAN ADVANTAGE YOU

In these tough economic times, modelling agencies have no option but to become more selective in terms of signing new faces. This article shows how this can work to a new model's advantage. There's no mistaking fashion's intent over the past few seasons. With buyers' purse strings getting tighter, designers have to make choices about what they want to show, as this will determine their economic survival into next year and beyond. While some designers have decided to produce ultra-wearable, inoffensive collections, others (in fact the majority) have decided that survival is pivotal on having a sartorial point of view. As a result, fashion has become vastly polarised. Looks this season swing between the extremes of Russian boho chic and super-shouldered Balmain look that borrows heavily from the Eighties. Where fashion leads, modelling agencies have to follow. In order to stay afloat themselves, they have to provide editors, photographers and advertisers with models that will book jobs time after time. This means that they have had to become more selective, which means sharpening their agency's vision: what type of models do they want to specialise in? By being more selective, agencies are aiming themselves at a particular market. If they are a high-fashion agency, only signing new faces that meet those criteria means that the likelihood of their new faces being rejected for high-fashion castings is reduced. This re-focusing is also helpful for prospective models looking for an agency. Signing with an agency is the most important step in a model's career and signing with the right one is absolutely crucial. By agencies clarifying exactly what it is they're looking for, a new model has a fairer chance of marketing themselves towards the right area of the modelling industry. Far from being a negative, this move towards a clearer understanding of what agencies and clients want can make the search for an agency quicker, easier and less fraught, which in the long term, is good news for everyone.