Interview in Stylebook about the new Asos campaign with Jordyn Woods, Joshua Williams and Thi Thuy

Plus Size, Tattoos, Influencers – when it comes to castings and jobs, model agency bookers and clients love the famous „Never seen before“. Do you still have to strictly adhere to the norm, the classic beauty ideal, nowadays? For an interview with a major news agency, we’ve compiled some interesting excerpts and insights for you! The interview will soon appear in a shortened form in various magazines and was created in collaboration with our Social Media Agency.

• Our Influencer

Here you can find the interview on Stylebook – The Secret to Success of the New Generation of Models.

Models for Campaigns: Size Zero vs. Influencers, Plus Size and Tattoos

Those who want to become a model nowadays no longer have to conform strictly to the norm of classical beauty. How did this change come about?

Exceptional people attract attention! Especially when everyone else around them looks subjectively the same. Brands become more individual and multifaceted through models who are outside the norm. Influencers are also getting involved in this change. Young people who often don’t fit the typical ideal measurements, but are super interesting for campaigns and brands on Instagram and Snapchat because people love them!

A few decades ago, it was almost exclusively about the model’s appearance. Today, it’s also possible to have a lot of success as a model without the classical beauty ideal, thanks to social media. So today, many young people can build a professional modelling career as Curvy Models, Tattoo Models or Models abroad – something that would have been impossible for them a few decades ago without blogs and social media.

In the new Asos campaign, it’s Thi Thuy, Jordyn Woods and Joshua Williams! Three absolutely exceptional models. Thi Thuy loves changing her hair colour and walks for top brands as an Asian model. Jordyn Woods is a successful curvy model in the US and is signed to Wilhelmina New York. That shows: even the big names in the industry are embracing plus size and new facets in modelling. Joshua Williams is a tattoo model from London and has really fascinating tattoos, including a small Batman bat under his right eye. A very interesting character, especially for young brands!

For the classic young models, it’s also important to build up a large fanbase on social networks. Those who don’t think about it or refuse to use social media and only focus on the runway and photo shoots will likely fall behind in the competition among models in the long run.

Instagram, Snapchat – social media is more important than ever for a modelling career.

What role do social media (blogs, Instagram etc.) and digitalisation play in this?

Self-promotion in blogs and social networks plays a crucial role for models. For customers, this is obviously an incredible added value! Theoretically, you not only book a beautiful face for your own advertising campaign, but also directly get an entire fanbase as well.

The self-activity in social networks as well as Instagram and Snapchat are, if you will, alongside model management, the motor or driving force for one’s own career. People have always loved accompanying other people in their lives. We know this principle from actors and celebrities as well. Viewers want to experience the highs and lows. But they also enjoy new products that their idol is wearing or using. Self-promotion in blogs and social networks plays a crucial role for models.

Many large and international agencies are undergoing the change from purely model agencies towards plus size and influencers. On some homepage of model agencies, you no longer see just the current model board, but also the strongest models on Instagram, directly at a glance. One model has four million followers, the next three million. For customers, this is obviously an incredible added value! Theoretically, you not only book a beautiful face for your own advertising campaign, but also directly get an entire fanbase as well. With fans who really exist and actually accompany every step of their idol.

Therefore: Yes, digitalisation and social media are also indispensable for a model’s career today.

The classical beauty ideal of the model

Have you as a model agent ever had enough of classical beauty one day?

Every person is individual. We don’t just look at the overall picture, but as model agents we take one step closer. Even perfect people have small flaws that make them special. For us, small details make people just as special as extremes. One of the absolutely most successful models, Cara Delevingne, is a classic beauty. Her special feature is her beautiful, full eyebrows. How could one ever get tired of looking at her?

Beauty is also always a very subjective impression. That’s why we in our modelling agency very much like to say: interesting. Naturally, many beautiful people apply to us. But that’s not all! As a model, it’s about discipline, motivation and independence. Added to that are the physical characteristics. For many fashion designers, size plays a decisive role and the correct sizing. Added to that are characteristics such as full hair or clear skin. Ultimately, as a modelling agency, we don’t necessarily always look for the most beautiful person, it’s also very much about trust and confidence.

As you correctly recognised above, the market has become much more diverse. However, the classical beauty ideal still remains.

Plus-size models are also becoming increasingly in demand in the scene. What role does Size Zero still play?

Plus-size models are indeed, at least in the media, playing an increasingly larger role. Naturally, there are always a few actions by big German magazines or entirely new TV formats where a jury searches for curvy models. Nevertheless, no one will say goodbye to Size Zero!

It’s also not just the figure, my thesis is that people like the lifestyle. When we see models, we see people who lead a quite healthy lifestyle, who see a lot of the world and who have the time to take care of their bodies. They have time to sleep enough, travel a lot and do sport. What we as people want is not necessarily always the beauty ideal, but rather the lifestyle that models or the actors in that moment embody: joy, freedom, style awareness.

That is why plus-size models are also perfect brand ambassadors from the customer’s point of view. They are happy people who are satisfied and lead a good and fulfilled life, with all culinary delicacies. That is actually a wonderful lifestyle, which many in German living rooms dream of. Therefore, extraordinary people, extraordinary stories and also plus-size models are working more and more.

However, always as a complement to the classical beauty ideal.

The market wants what the market wants: Stories

Hand on your heart: How much difference is actually allowed?

In fashion and advertising, anything goes! Let’s move away from the classic advertising market and head towards the Haute-Couture modelling agencies in New York, Milan and Paris. Particularly in the fashion metropolises, it’s less about the classically beautiful people you mentioned. Here, agencies and clients really like very distinctive types! It’s perfectly okay to be angular. The fashion world is especially open to new characters!

As we said at the beginning of the interview, influencers are playing an ever bigger role. A good example of the path from blogger to model is Riccardo Simonetti. I met him 1 day at a modelling agency backstage when he was moderating for Red! He lives in Berlin, has super long hair and often likes to wear a golden crown. He has managed to move from being an extroverted blogger to a model for magazines and photo shoots. Even more so: he’s also booked for TV events and accompanies them backstage on his social media channels. He is the ideal role model for the new generation of models, who not only sell a lifestyle but also tell their own story. Distinctive types who may not necessarily fit the ideal image, but are so interesting that people like them, enjoy seeing them and follow them every day.

 

More about Riccardo? Read on FIV, the interview with Riccardo Simonetti