Model Self-Assessment: New Faces vs Supermodels

New faces versus models.

New faces are at the very beginning, new faces. If you start your career in an agency, you are a new face, never seen before. Supermodels are the ultimate ideal. They are not only good at their job, but they also have perfect measurements and a name.

Now, if you're starting as a new face, what makes you desirable? New faces bring two important aspects for designers, advertising agencies, and project management. Firstly, their name and presence do not distract from the actual brand or product. Secondly, new faces can attract all the attention at fashion shows if they skillfully stand out from the crowd of models. This magic moment doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it leaves a lasting memory of that moment, the show, the campaign, and the designer.

My last magic moment was at Berlin Fashion Week. Many new faces start their first attempts there to be fit for mega cities like New York, Milan, London, and Paris. There are many interesting stories about fashion weeks in the chapter Fashion. I remember one girl very clearly.

Fashion weeks.

Summer, second day, second show. The music starts, the lights dim, and the large hall is engulfed in deep black. The runway stretches almost a hundred meters. Twenty, thirty photographers gather at the end of the runway for the best photos. Spotlight on. Model after model walks the runway in summer outfits. Then she came, a young Cara Delevingne with full eyebrows, a strikingly beautiful face, and graceful stride. Second walk, third walk, all eyes stayed on her. Every time she appeared, people in the rows at the runway whispered, "Wow."

When designers directly see the positive feedback, the chances of future bookings are high, such as for showrooms and look books. She walked in six shows and was a highlight every time with her full, bushy, yet defined eyebrows. A unique appearance catches our attention, as well as grace and beauty. We also discuss general and individual beauty ideals in the book.

When you, as part of the fashion world, visit the fashion weeks in metropolises, you quickly notice familiar and new faces among the models after the second or third season. After the shows, people gather in the lounge or at the after-show events and discuss the shows of the day. It's always about entertainment, collections, and the designer's models. The same effect can be seen in advertising. Brand fans know the campaigns and discuss new photo shoots or commercials with friends. While new faces offer the potential to stand out, supermodels guarantee the success of campaigns with their name.

Supermodels.

A guarantee of success? Yes. When advertising agencies plan new campaigns and purchase a big name, they are also buying the trust of the fans. They benefit not only from the model as a spokesperson, but also from the model as an influencer. Campaigns double their reach through the strategic choice of well-known models. Supermodels have large fan bases, sometimes even larger than the actual company.

When brands book famous models or names, they strategically direct attention to their brand, products, or services through the model. This makes brands relevant and important. For example, Tommy Hilfiger did it with Gigi Hadid. The campaign was called TommyxGigi. It was quite simple but extremely effective, with weeks of exposure on city lights in downtown areas. By featuring a well-known face, brands activate even more people. Additionally, they provide the press and media with new topics. At the same time, the model's famous name quickly overshadows the actual collection or product. Many media outlets will only report on the model itself. Supermodels are very few, but it's still worth holding on to that goal as a new face and working diligently.

The figure.

We're not yet discussing minimum measurements as they vary. Depending on your physical attributes, you can do more or fewer jobs. However, one thing is important for you as a model, having a slender, slightly athletic figure with good proportions. Constantly improving your measurements is also crucial.

There is a distinction between male and female models, especially regarding sports and fitness. While male models can engage in light physical activity, female models should avoid becoming too muscular. As a female model, your focus should primarily be on maintaining a toned and fit body. Visible muscles should be avoided as much as possible. When you work as a model later on, you will also need to be mindful of not overtraining certain areas of your body. You should strive to tone your stomach, hips, and buttocks while avoiding muscle building. If your muscles become too pronounced, you become less flexible for jobs. High fashion opportunities can also quickly fade away if your hips or shoulders become too wide. We will delve into fitness and sports in more detail later on. The book also provides valuable tips for a healthy lifestyle and nutrition.

The attitude.

Is that all? No, it always goes further. It's not enough to fulfill only the visual requirements to become a successful model. Having acting talent is highly beneficial, especially when it comes to commercials. You will see how essential versatility and acting skills are for you as a model. This allows you to immerse yourself better in the various roles you play and also mask any negative emotions on days when you're not feeling your best. As your job offers improve over time, customers will have higher expectations of your talent and abilities.

Basic acting skills will always accompany you in a simplified form. You will need to record e-castings and deliver small lines or even play roles. Later on at the shooting set, you may find yourself in situations where you and other models are best friends, then arguing in another scenario, and in the next shoot, you're ecstatic with your family over a new television for hours. Jobs can be very demanding and lengthy, especially for young models. As a model, you mustn't show any signs of fatigue, stress, or frustration. Acting helps you maintain professionalism on set and keep your self-control. Like in many other professions, you must learn to reliably deliver on jobs.

Self-assessment.

Now we come to a very important point: self-assessment. I want to address this point early on because it's crucial for you as a model to be honest with yourself and objectively evaluate your capabilities before investing a lot of time in the wrong path. This means that if your type doesn't fit into the high fashion world, you shouldn't focus on the international market, but rather on the national advertising market. Conversely, if you're a model that fits into the world of haute couture and high fashion, don't squander your chances with small agencies.

You are young only once, and you have only a few years to establish yourself as a model. However, a few years does not mean overnight. Life is not a Hollywood film. Take your time. You're young. Step by step, set realistic goals. Many people initially don't understand that modeling is hard work and requires a lot of time investment. If you simply want to be on the cover of Vogue, you're in the wrong mindset. Even getting a spread in Vogue is already a challenge for models. The cover of Vogue may be a beautiful goal, but it usually has little to do with the everyday life of a model.

Your daily life consists of test shootings, castings, commercials, social media shoots, online shops, showrooms, and look books. You stand for eight or more hours on set and are the only person who must constantly smile over and over again, day after day, week after week. But the road to the cover is long, challenging, and sometimes exhausting. Models who have the potential work toward their goals. Prior to that, their daily lives consist of showrooms, fittings, photoshoots, and e-castings. They often work hard on their careers for years without much attention.

In the beginning, you often start with small jobs in your region and country. After finishing school, the best ones move abroad. The first few weeks are spent in model apartments with three, four, or five strangers from different countries. Naturally, there is no constant conflict or drama like in the famous TV casting shows. That's the everyday life of a model. Discipline, discipline, discipline.

Before you invest a lot of time in searching for an agency and submitting applications, become aware of the path you want to take, what realistic goals you have, and which agencies are a good fit for you. We will discuss different types of agencies later on. Roughly speaking, you can distinguish between three classes of agencies.

High fashion agencies.

They represent models for international advertising and fashion. They require absolute top measurements. In high fashion agencies, you need the famous total package.

Commercial agencies.

They represent models for national advertising and fashion. Good measurements are required, as well as a high degree of versatility for commercial jobs.

People agencies.

They represent models for advertising. Measurements are not the deciding factor here. It's about individuals and characters who have something special about them.

Before we dive into the world of high fashion and commercials, let's take a quick look at people agencies. If you have many tattoos or an extraordinary appearance, your career path should not lead you to high fashion, but rather to advertising. If you lack international measurements as a model, you should not focus your energy on working internationally. Instead, find a good people agency. People agencies offer similar jobs as model agencies, but they are much more active in the field of advertising. Measurements are slightly more flexible than in the international market and the fashion industry. It's more about types and characters, individuals with whom we as consumers can identify more easily than with high fashion models.

Every national market, whether in the USA, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Germany, South Korea, Japan, or China, thrives on advertising, food, insurance, banks, automobiles, smartphones, and much more. These markets can be very lucrative. Therefore, it's worthwhile for you, as a model who doesn't meet high fashion measurements, to focus on agencies and a model book that aligns with your job opportunities. But if you have these international measurements, try everything to get into a great agency in order to have best chances to make it into the high fashion industry. You need perfect measurements, but does it all come down to this? This we will discuss in the next chapter.