Over human capabilities: How I worked as a model in China
American and European model market strictly regulatedtherefore, beginner models - as a rule, they are thirteen or fourteen years old - the mother agencies in Russia are first sent to study and work in Asia. This is a common practice that exists since the 90s. But the case of the death of the 14-year-old Russian model Vlada Dziuba in Shanghai almost for the first time raised the question of how ethical and safe these business trips are. We talked to a model who left to work in Asia at eighteen. Here is her story.
Carier start
I came to the agency - the only one in my city - in 2009. On the one hand, I wanted to prove that I was no worse than the girl who posted photos of VKontakte and with whom a cute boy communicates, on the other she simply dreamed of going abroad. If I hadn’t been promised that I could leave, I wouldn’t linger on this job. But the agency immediately explained to me that you first need to unlearn in a special school of models - only after that I can take place. By that time, I had already entered the university, but I was still small and thoughtless. Of course, I was deceived - this is not a mandatory condition, but it is paid. I studied at the evening department and worked as a waitress. There was no money, and the agency agreed to part of the payment. Later, I worked in full on the free shows of local designers.
Mom, I did not tell. Admitted later in some casual conversation. At that moment, I was already planning my first trip to Asia, so my mother was delighted. She herself wanted to leave Russia - as it seemed to us, the possibility of working abroad promised a comfortable existence. In fact, everything was not so rosy: the first trips were unsuccessful, it took a long time before I started earning, I allowed myself to eat normally, buy clothes and felt independent.
Of course, I dreamed that I would go to shows in Paris with Freya Behoy and Abby Lee, but it turned out that my height was not at all catwalk. In addition, the c walk did not work out - I'm rather clumsy. Advertising campaigns and rare magazines in Asia have become my ceiling. And, despite the unusual appearance and thinness, there I was considered more likely a commercial model, but pyshnotlye blondes with regular features were popular with the local gloss. All you need to know about Asia is a very specific market.
Rules of work in Asia
In the first trip I tried to grab as many as possible and traveled nine months in different countries and cities, not returning to Russia: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur. I switched to the correspondence department and went home a couple of years shortly before the session, and then I left again.
Usually, bookers, sending to Asia, tell tale models for beginners about the need to build a portfolio, they say, it is easier to get a magazine shoot in Asia than in Europe. But this is a cover - models are sent there for money. All Asian countries are very different, and the fashion market is also very different, but overall, staying in Asia does not bring any benefit to the model’s career, quite the contrary: working there has a bad effect on reputation. When girls go to Europe or New York, they are in a hurry to pull out of their beech mediocre photos of the Asian period, to burn them.
The market is so specific that it is very difficult to learn something that can be useful in Europe or America. English can be tightened only by communicating with models of native speakers, and girls from Russia are mostly very shy and stick together. The requirements for posing in Asia are not at all the same as in Europe. Often you need a lot and unnatural smile and make "cute gestures." In China, the girl who passes the fastest and longest-lasting funny catalog postures successfully passes the casting — that is, you literally need to be able to change your position every second. Of course, nobody needs such skills in the European and American fashion markets.
In Tokyo, I lived with a 14-year-old girl - she had a lot of work, but she always went fooling around. Of course, I asked why she continues to work, and I heard the answer: "Parents are forcing"
They pay in different ways, but Asian agencies, especially those that are simpler, sign the model for any job they give, without worrying about her future reputation and career. Under the contract, you can refuse to work, for example, if it is shooting underwear or nude, but in other cases you do not decide anything. It is also not possible under the contract, for example, to go to parties, invite guests, get fat by a kilogram. There are lots of ways to fine a model and intimidate it.
Most of the girls from Russia, whom I met on trips, are not from rich families - their parents are not against the daughter to earn. Many people think that working in Asia is the way to a decent life, an opportunity to see the world. In fact, the whole world for most of the minor models that came to Asia is limited to apartments and a photo studio. In Tokyo, I lived with a 14-year-old girl - she had a lot of work, she was quite successful, earned a lot, and now she “models” successfully in Europe and New York. In this case, the girl always went foolishly, all avoided. In conversation, it turned out that she did not like to be a model, she was not happy about traveling, and in fact she would like to be at home now and go to school. I think it’s normal when you are a teenager and it’s hard for you without your parents, it’s difficult to communicate with people, it’s scary to walk and go somewhere alone. Of course, I asked why she continues to work, and I heard the following answer: "Parents are forcing."
It happens the other way around: the girls themselves have to convince their parents that they like to do this, because the fact that you are called a model adds a thousand points to self-esteem. Parents often themselves believe that the most important thing for a girl is appearance, so beliefs work.
China vs Japan
If I didn’t have physical data for modeling, I probably would never have seen so many cities, I hadn’t met any cool people, I wouldn’t have enough experience. I tried to find classes everywhere, I hung out, took a lot of pictures, met local people and visitors from different countries. Sometimes I managed to work with a cool team - I was on the set with Takashi Oma and on the show with Kate Lanfer, I met various celebrities and designers.
Having been once in Tokyo, I began to go there often. The Japanese appreciate the beauty and nature: they constantly travel, every year, like children, they are happy with the blossoming of cherry blossoms, on weekends they crowd into the mountains to watch the sunset. In Japan, it is not boring, it seems that all people there are passionate about something: comics, fashion, art, cooking. And, for me the most valuable thing, in Japan, people treat each other with respect and attention. Of course, it was more pleasant to work there than anywhere else. The Japanese are perfectionists, they work for quality, every shooting is thought out to the smallest detail, no one is in a hurry. The opposite is true in China.
When I was first offered to go to Shanghai, they promised that they would send me to Europe next time, but before that I should make money, and, as I strongly advised booker, to buy a fake Birkin bag. I really needed the money, and I went on a standard contract for two months with a fixed fee. Worked out the fee, left and never returned.
It took me one trip to Shanghai to understand - my health and time are not worth such work. Yes, you can earn money there, but this method does not lead to career development and does not cover moral and physical damage.
More hellish work in my life was not. The Chinese are very economical. They book a model for a certain time and during this time they change it as often as physically possible. Three, eight, twelve and more hours of continuous shooting with constant disguise is very exhausting. I believe that such work is a mockery. The worst thing is clothing catalogs. There are so many clothes that the girls pull time and specifically linger in the fitting room to rest. But the problem is that in the fitting room they rarely leave one: I had a shooting in which two girls “helped” me to change clothes and literally tore off my clothes after a few frames and by force pulled on a new one. I did not faint in the literal sense, but I was very tired. My legs hurt badly - I constantly went for a massage to recover. Sometimes I felt the closeness of depression.
Another problem of working in China is cheap cosmetics and dirty makeup brushes. I do not know why, but many make-up artists there are very unscrupulous - they do not wash their hands, as well as their hands. In this way, it is very easy to pick up the infection, so you always had to carry your makeup and brushes with you, and sometimes you should be tough and insist that you can do it yourself.
It took me one trip to Shanghai to understand - my health and time are not worth such work. Yes, you can earn money there, but this method does not lead to career development and does not cover moral and physical damage. On some shootings, it seemed to me that people think that I have no nervous system, and instead of organs there is a plastic filler. My hair was dragged, they were burned - work was beyond human capabilities. Very often at the castings, I felt like a piece of meat on the market. It is clear that the model business is trade in appearance, but in China there was some particular disrespect for people, a complete lack of empathy.
Teenage girl death
Why the 14-year-old Vlada Dziuba died is unknown to us, the media call different versions, but whatever happens is a tragedy and adults are to blame for it. Sudden death from overwork at work in Japan is called "Karosi", this phenomenon exists. But I think for this you need to work for several years in a mode without rest. China for models is still not GULAG and not slums behind the factory for the production of sneakers. You do not keep locked up, and at any time you can break the contract. Yes, there is a chance of incurring losses, but it is not fatal.
It seems to me that it could not have come as a surprise to Vlada’s parents that the girl has no insurance. In most of my contracts, providing insurance was not the responsibility of the receiving agency. In my last contract with the parent agency it was written that it "undertakes to assist in the preparation of documents and the provision of a visa, to advise on insurance." That is, if I thought that I would need insurance, I had to take care of this myself. And although some media claim that insurance should have been contracted, I doubt the accuracy of this information. Is that she had to be framed before the trip - so that the parents just had to be aware of.
In Japan, I picked up a virus and came down with a fever. The agency canceled all the work and the castings for the coming days, booker took me to the hospital, paid for the tests, bought food and necessary medicines. But I'm not sure that in China would have done the same. I didn't trust people with whom I had to work there even in matters of payment, so I would definitely not count on them in matters of health. But I think the ambulance phone they would share exactly, and if I had asked, I would be taken to a doctor and would hardly be forced to work by force.
In Japan, I picked up a virus and came down with a fever. The agency canceled all the work and the castings for the coming days, booker took me to the hospital, paid for the tests, bought the products and the necessary medicines
I think my experience is very different from the experience of most girls, which scouts find very young. On my first trip, I was already an adult and felt responsible for everything I was doing. I did not expect custody from others, but, on the contrary, I was on my guard. I pursued my interests, earned money and traveled, met people. She herself monitored her health and carefully read the contracts, found out about the agencies with which the booker had agreed. From time to time I sat on diets, but if it seriously threatened my health, I would not do that. If during the shooting it seemed to me that something was going wrong, I called the booker and asked to speak with the client. The trip to China was unpleasant and hard, but not fatal, and I knew why I was doing this. When I found myself in a similar agency in Seoul, I decided to break the contract and left there after a week.
I think if I were fourteen, everything would be very different: after all, at this age, the girl is still a child and her parents should be responsible for it. Unfortunately, we live in a harsh world and cannot blindly entrust your child to strangers who have gathered to earn money on it. Whatever happened to Vlada, she was not old enough to take care of herself.
Photo:personal archive
