Others: 5 new modeling agencies that change the industry
FASHION INDUSTRY DEFINITELY IS WHERE TO GROW, and a generation of model agencies focused not only on conventional appearance can help in this. We talk about new fashion-world players and how they plan to make fashion even more diverse.
Midland
The founders of the New York Midland agency, Walter Pearce and Rachel Chandler, consider themselves one of the most important voices in the fashion industry. They have their own view of human beauty, so that as a model, Pierce and Chandler are looking primarily for those whose appearance does not fit into strict standards. People of small stature come to the castings of Midland, with angular features, thin hair, or old age — in general, those whom ordinary modeling agencies do not even consider.
The founders can invite even their friends to work: for the Eckhaus Latta show spring-summer 2018 Chandler involved a pregnant girlfriend, and for one advertising campaign an assistant and a nanny who were shot topless. Finding a model on instagram or approaching a stranger on the street is a common story for these guys. At the same time, more and more publications, brands and commercial projects support the Midland approach: the agency already shows Hemlut Lang, Hood By Air and Maryam Nassir Zadeh, as well as advertising campaigns and publications in publications like iD, Dazed, Vogue, The New Yorker, The Cut and others.
Nii
Photographer and student Central Saint Martins Campbell Eddy created a model agency in 2016 to change the beauty standards in the industry. He himself is skeptical about the innovations of some brands: Eddie believes that they follow the momentary fashion rather than the sincere desire to change. According to him, real diversity can only be achieved when agencies pay attention not only to skin color.
Finding models on the street and in social networks, he tries to take into account their age, body characteristics and background: personal interests, talents, skills and profession. For example, a person with a hearing impairment is listed in the Eddy agency, and illustrator King Ovus participated in many shows under his patronage. Also, his models took part in the show Molly Goddard, Ashley Williams and Marni, filming for i-D, Vogue Italia and AnOther Magazine, advertising campaign Gosha Rubchinskiy for Burberry and others.
No agency
The creators of the New York-based No Agency consider themselves to be fashion punkers who can change the way agencies work. For example, to provide fair pay for those found on Instagram: such models usually receive lower fees than those who have representatives. The former model Ashley Smith and agent Alex Tsebelis, more than anyone, know the harsh dictatorship of the fashion industry, so they don’t want to help and never make models do things they don’t like.
In addition, they give to try modeling of girls of other professions: actresses, musicians, artists and activists. So, artist and musician Daniel Lalita, unprofessional model Cishal Cocker, trans artist Toreyn Futurum and the star of instagram Elite Harkov are currently collaborating with No Agency.
Jugend
Jugend is a Russian model agency based in Moscow and St. Petersburg, it also attracts people from different professions to work: actors, musicians, artists, designers and others. The emphasis is on atypical appearance for the fashion industry. The principle here is simple: each model is beautiful in its own way. Jugend's clients participate in the filming for the online editions of Highsnobiety and InRussia, lukbukov Outlaw Moscow, Volchok and KM20, in shows of the Russian brands 21dot12, Otosyon and others.
Tomorrow is another day
Tomorrow Is Another Day was founded in 2010, but actively started talking about it a couple of years ago. The occasion was the first men's show of Demny Gvasalia for Balenciaga in the summer of 2016: all models were presented by one German agency and, moreover, they came to the podium for the first time. Founder Eva Godel is looking for wards, mostly men, on the streets of major cities around the world, does not use Instagram for this, and does not hold castings. Gödel can stand for hours on the same street to find a person: not conventional beauty should be hooked, but rather charisma.
The agency tries to follow the principles of diversity: for example, it collaborates with Indian Yusuf Sidiki, nineteen-year-old punk Paul Amelen or middle-aged men. At the same time, in Tomorrow Is Another Day one cannot find hypermaskulin models, of which there are already so many in large agencies. Godel's wards meet the new requirements of brands that are looking for the guy next door, and participation in shows and advertising campaigns of brands such as Balenciaga, Dior Home, Comme des Garçons, J.W.Anderson, Rick Owens and many others, this only confirms.
