Model Agencies
As you may already know, if you want a credible model, you will have to go through a model agency. But in the Politics of Fashion, nobody is more adept to playing the game and playing it extremely well as Model Agencies. If you ever thought that it is as simple as picking up the phone and saying, Hi, I am shooting for so and so magazine or so and so client, I would like to book so and so for the shoot, when is she available, you are in for a Big Surprise.
Model Agents are there not only to get their Models the best jobs, but are there to determine whether that job will have a positive or adverse affect on her or him getting the campaign they really want or if that job and the impression it will leave on the public is steering them in the right direction.
Model Agencies will not only ask what the job is or which magazine it is for, they will also ask about the team being employed and if they do not know with whom the model is working with, will ask to see their work. The Politics of Fashion also says that if a Model is working for VOGUE USA and Harper’s Bazaar want the same model in a similar time frame, the model agency will have to play the tender role of diplomat and deal with the delicacy of the situation. They will have to make decisive and wise decisions as to which magazine and with which photographer and stylist the model will best benefit from their association with. A bad strategic decision could literally ruin a model’s potential in becoming a Top and remaining so for several years.
A Model Agency will also have to know about image maintenance and how and when to change the model’s persona allowing them to maintain their longevity. If for example, a model is in a rut and they wish to change their image, they might suggest shooting with a photographer quite different than they have been type cast to shoot with. Of course that involves knowing the Politics of Fashion well enough to convince “THAT” photographer to book that model that the photographer might not have considered with her present image.
Not all Vogues, Harper’s Bazaar’s, Elle’s and Marie Claire’s are created equal.
Depending on which country you are in, the perceived value of each of the above depends on with whom they are directly competing with and will have a decisive effect on whether the model agency will take one more seriously than another… Now that is one of the most import FREE bits of info you will probably ever get??? More Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink, Say No More, Say No More.
