We will start with the basics, editorial fashion models are tall (usually
5'9" minimum), beautiful, not pretty,
beautiful (and different looking. How can you be beautiful and different?
Whoa, this is hard, really hard!).
And when they start, most editorial models are way too young to be
doing this. Figure 16 or 17 as a
median age for new faces. There is simply no way women this young can
possibly be prepared for the
stress and commitment editorial fashion demands of them. They are thin,
scary thin, mother wants to take
you to the doctor thin. Claudia Schiffer is 5'11 and was reported to
weigh about 118 pounds. The industry
takes a lot of heat about this, creating unhealthy images for young
(and not so young) women, but that
doesn't change the reality. 5'7" and 136 pounds is pretty close to
perfect, but it doesn't cut it in Big City
fashion.
Are there exceptions? Yes, Kate Moss is not 5'9" (5'6" is closer), Cindy
Crawford at the height of her
editorial career weighed.... well, lets just say that she weighed more
than 118 pounds. So why am I
getting into all of this? In part because most young people who consider
modeling are familiar only with
editorial models, and so very few should even think about an editorial
career. Far more potential models
will work if they chose commercial modeling, which was the subject
of my previous post. But if you want
to know about editorial fashion in New York city, here it is.
First, there are enormous differences between modeling commercially
and editorial fashion models. There
are actors, pilots, firemen, housewives, students, etc. who model commercially,
some are very successful
and make a good deal of money at it. But they are not commercial models
in the same sense that editorial
fashion models are editorial models. This is because you don't build
a "name" as a commercial model. You
do build a reputation (you show up on time, wear proper attire, not
hard to work with, etc.) that helps an
agency place you. But not a name, the way an advertiser wants a Cindy,
or Linda, or Kate. This "name"
thing is a big deal. Think about it this way, if your not an industry
insider, can you name a model that is not
an editorial model? (Okay, I'm a commercial model and you know me!
The big, dumb, bald, white guy
who looks like a thug, not a name, a description.)
The top fashion agencies give only exclusive contracts (usually two
to five years for a new face"). They
have the contacts with the fashion magazines to help you build that
"name", and they expect to benefit
from that relationship through that exclusive relationship. Their resources
are directed solely to the
development of the models they represent, which is why you see the
term "Model Management" in so
many of the agency names. If you want Karolina Kurkova, you call Women (or Mega
here in Miami),
not Ford. If you want Gisele Bündchen, call IMG, not Wilhelmina. The "inventory"
of a commercial
agency is it's clients (Coke,Kodak, Xerox), The "inventory" of an editorial agency
is it's models (Kate, Gisele,
Karolina, Kaila). In short, commercial agencies have clients and find models,
fashion agencies have models
and find clients. Dogs and cats in the same pet store.
Editorial models are expected (as someone here has said repeatedly)
to live the life. You model, that's it.
You may wait tables, or something else part time to pay the rent when
you start, but you model. If you
were not in front of a camera today, you had a bad day, money or no
money. You take jobs, work with
certain photographers, for your entire career which pay little or nothing,
simply because they build your
name and give you exposure. I can think of no other career where the
"prestige" jobs pay so little. Most
here would be stunned to learn how little a model is paid for the cover
of Vogue or Elle, or for the purely
editorial layouts inside those magazines. So why do it? Because it
builds a name. Then when an advertiser
calls the agency, they are not asking for a "type" (brunette, athletic,
Asian, bald, dumb), they are asking
for Gisele, Adriana, or Kate. There may be a thousand beautiful blondes,
but there is only one Karolina,
because of all of her magazine layouts and covers (not ads, editorial
layouts, the ad work comes later,
after the name is established). Once your name and image are established,
you go to the bank, big time
doing fashion ad work (commercial modeling). Why? Because the ad agency
or designer wants Karolina,
not a thin, busty blonde (lots of blondes, only one Karolina, and you
PAY for Karolina). Every editorial
model spends some time in the trenches, go here, go there, shoot with
this guy, cut your hair, loose some
weight, go to the agency, get your go sees. Had a bad night? Tough.
Went on six go sees yesterday with
no bookings? Too bad, here are four more, do it. Live the life. Models
do not "try" editorial fashion
modeling, fashion tries you. It is hard, it is suppose to be hard.
That it is hard is what makes it great. If it
was easy, everyone would do it.
I am posting this because there has been a lot of discussion about what
agencies do and what models
should expect. Some of the photographers here are full time professionals
(I'm in that group, full time, not
sure about the professional part). Like modeling, this is not an easy
business to get started and stay in
professionally, and those that do it are passionate about what they
do. You wouldn't stay with this if you
didn't love it with an emotion that is hard to describe. However, depending
on what side of the street you
work on (commercial or editorial), your experiences and expectations
of models and agents can be
radically different. I work almost exclusively as a commercial photographer
and represent myself as such,
but I have worked with fashion agencies and fashion models. I like
commercial models, they are gifted
and talented people, and they want to get paid. I love fashion models,
they want great pictures, if you
can't deliver, forget about it (trust me on this one, the world is
full of fashion models who can't remember
my name).
These opinions and observations are the result of my experiences with
both commercial and fashion
models (and agencies) over the past sixteen years.
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--
John Fisher
900 West Avenue, Suite 423
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
Voice: (305) 534-9322
Fax: (305) 675-9286
http://www.johnfisher.com