THE END OF THE MODEL
Now, more than ever, the fashion industrys’ shifting standards mean that the next top model in glossy ads could be... you
With character casting on the rise, we’re seeing more ‘real’ people taking the place of models on the catwalks. ELLE explores the changing face of fashion
“FROM GUCCI TO BALENCIAGA AND CHLOÉ, ‘ordinary’ people NOW FREQUENTLY STAR IN CATWALK SPECTACLES and campaigns”
‘OH, WE’VE JUST BOOKED BURBERRY,’ 27-year-old Sophia Maslin says casually to her 21-year-old sister Miriam, as she reaches for a doughnut during a Monday morning meeting. It seems an average start to the day for the siblings behind Revolt Agency, the ‘new-generation model agency’ they founded in 2O17. Average, except that the pair – along with their colleague, 29-year-old Kit Findlay – are working from home in a small flat in South Kensington. And a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ journalist – me – is watching them at work via a Zoom call.
As I join (the screen occasionally obscured by Jasper and Aslan, a Chihuahua and Pomeranian pair toddling around the succulent-filled apartment), the trio discuss the addition of ‘talents’ and Instagram handles to their models’ online portfolios. ‘Oh, you know Jet has a rock band?’ Sophia asks Kit, their senior men’s booker, as they swap information about models’ interests. ‘Nitin is an interior designer,’ he says back. ‘We should just add links to their Spotify and YouTube,’ he laughs.
Which isn’t such a bad idea, because they find that this apparently extraneous information is increasingly in demand by casting directors who work with major luxury fashion brands. That’s because the face – or, rather, faces – of fashion is changing. From Gucci to Balenciaga and Chloé, ‘non-traditional’ models and ‘ordinary’ people now frequently star on catwalks and in campaigns, and the emphasis is just as much on character as looks.
This isn’t entirely new: the Nineties supermodels – Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington – were of course as personalitypacked as they were stunning. Unconventional beauty, or those who don’t fit the standard measurements, has frequently featured in the work of Alexander McQueen (from larger bodies to disabled sports women) and other influential fashion brands, too. But they were always the exceptions that proved the rule – the rule being that most models were tall, super-slim, usually white and a blank canvas onto which directors and designers could project their own vision.
But that is changing. We’re seeing an irreversible shift as the multi-billion pound luxury empires embrace a new normal – not just a fleeting anti-fashion moment, prompting even high-street retailers like Asos and Zara to change tack.
‘The first couple of years we were getting jobs, but they weren’t huge clients. They tended to be streetwear and sports brands, rather than significant names in the luxury fashion space,’ says Sophia Maslin, who founded Revolt while at university in Nottingham, aged 24. Maslin typifies the slashie generation she represents, with a roster of models signed for their unique skills – the singers, artists and interior designers – as well as their striking looks, whether ‘conventionally’ attractive or not. She’s a trained barrister, while sister Miriam also juggles the
“THE STATUESQUE BELLA HADIDS OF THE WORLD ARE INCREASINGLY being joined by
THOSE WHO LOOK STRIKING IN other ways ”
busy day-job as a senior booker with studying social sciences at University College London. ‘Up until last year, you might have seen the odd “atypical” model, but nothing significant. Now we have brands such as Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney coming to us,’ she adds. Luxury department store Selfridges, too. And there’s a very simple – and crucial – reason: ‘It’s what young people want.’
A luxury market report by McKinsey states that nine out of 1O Gen-Z consumers believe brands should be inclusive, champion diverse representation and individuality, and align themselves with social, political and environmental causes. Those young people have a price on their heads: they have $35O bn of spending power in the US alone, representing 4O% of global consumers in 2O2O. Exclusivity and elitism doesn’t sell like it used to, so ‘smart’ brands are bucking-up to boost their bottom lines.
THE SHIFT TO ‘CHARACTER CASTING,’ AS IT’S NOW KNOWN, has been percolating for some time, driven by the success of Gucci since Alessandro Michele, a designer renowned for celebrating individuality and eccentricities, was appointed creative director in 2O15. Balenciaga, under designer Demna Gvasalia, has also been influential. For its SS2O show, held in September 2O19, ‘non-traditional’ models or ‘nodels’ from agency Tomorrow Is Another Day were named in show-notes, along with details of their day jobs. ‘Models of various career tracks play on beauty standards of the past and the future,’ the notes said. So out came Erwin, a silver-haired architect with deep laughter lines and wrinkles; Gabriella, a fair-featured hotel cleaner; Sveta, a strong-jawed violinist; and a host of other striking individuals with equally compelling stories – and luxuriously crafted clothes, the apogee of high fashion, to match.
Traditional models still make up the majority of those cast (more in line with the supermodels of yore, standing at 5ft 9in, with a standard set of measurements to ensure they fit sample clothing and shoes). A slew of SS21 shows can attest to that. However, the statuesque Bella Hadids of the world are increasingly being joined by those credited for their other interests or who look striking in other ways – the petite artists barely scraping 5ft, voluptuous drag performers and designers who identify as non-binary – and models of all ages and body shapes at Marni, Chloé, Fendi and more.
With an increased emphasis on inclusive and diverse characterful casting comes a host of new-generation modelling agencies clamouring to book the next top models. Each defines itself as ‘unique’, and has a name suggestive of something antiestablishment or future-facing. Revolt’s USP is models recognised for skills – ‘talent’ – eschewing traditional beauty for a more open remit. Its approach to casting is as wide-ranging as the
“CLIENTS WANT TO LOOK AT A MODEL AS A WHOLE, GETTING a sense of THEIR STYLE AND TALENT. INSTAGRAM IS A GREAT snapshot of that ”
types of beauty now represented in campaigns and on the catwalk. ‘We don’t have one approach,’ Sophia says. It’s a mix of ‘hundreds of email submissions a day’, street-casting, word-ofmouth and, of course, Instagram. ‘I’ll tell you why: a lot of clients want to be more inclusive and look at a model as a whole, getting a sense of their style, their talent, everything. Instagram is a great way to get a snapshot of that, and see there’s more to them as a person.’ It works the other way, too. Young people who are ‘normal’ – with imperfect skin, of all genders, ethnicities and sizes – are discovering agencies like Revolt, and putting themselves forward as they see more people like themselves in campaigns and shows shared on the social media platform. For the first time, they are seeing themselves as prospective models.
‘I’M FAT, AND I’M NOT SHY ABOUT SAYING THAT,’ says Ísold Halldórudóttir, a 24-year-old with a buzzcut who comes from Reykjavík, Iceland, and contacted Revolt via Instagram in 2O17. Halldórudóttir is one of the agency’s most successful models, recently starring in a campaign for Marc Jacobs, alongside supermodel progeny Lila Moss (daughter of Kate). ‘I came across Revolt on Instagram,’ she says, and applied because, ‘I noticed the character they had with the other models they’d signed. I didn’t grow up thinking I could be a model, because I didn’t see that representation. But when I found Revolt, I was really interested to be a part of that.’ Alongside modelling, Halldórudóttir is an outspoken advocate for selfacceptance, embodying the socially and politically active generation luxury brands are now trying to speak to.
Leafing through a glossy magazine, you’d be right to question the extent of this shift, seeing that, for the most part, models in the ad campaigns you’re flicking past are still relatively uniform – indisputably stunning. But you may see a rapid shift as the changes of the past year come into effect, and changes we saw manifest on runways six months ago start to appear in campaigns online and in magazines.
‘This year definitely moved the needle in terms of representation in mainstream fashion,’ says Rachel Chandler, a prolific casting director and founder of Midland Agency who, along with co-founder Walter Pearce, has been instrumental in casting models for Gucci, Balenciaga and Marni, as well as Zara. Chandler acknowledges that the pandemic accelerated a shift that was already in motion, with an increased number of ‘non-traditional models’ in the shows of brands including Gucci and Burberry, who had to show collections on members of their design teams due to travel restrictions. ‘Covid moved the needle in that direction purely from a practical standpoint; a lot of what we saw was created while people couldn’t travel. But it certainly pushed forward the idea of individuality and inclusivity,’ Chandler says.
Since then, it appears that luxury fashion brands and traditional modelling agencies – including powerhouses such as IMG, which
represents old school ‘supers’ such as Karen Elson, Jourdan Dunn and Kate Moss – have embraced the change. ‘There’s been such a shift that my job as a casting director is much more straightforward,’ Chandler explains, previously having to put weeks of work into street-casting. ‘Agencies now represent a much broader range of talent than they did five years ago. When we started, we had to do a lot of legwork to find people outside of the agency structure, but I’m pleased to say that now I can go to a [traditional] agency and there’s a much wider range of talent to book.’
IF YOU WERE TO READ THIS CYNICALLY, you could argue that the tricky economic climate has encouraged the fashion industry to speak to a broader audience, particularly the Gen-Z market, which so prizes inclusivity and individual expression. But Chloé designer Natacha Ramsay-Levi makes the case that we all want to connect with fashion on a human level, and even more so while we live through political and social upheaval, and that includes connecting with the models as individuals. ‘“Models” is a strange word to use, as models are also talents to me,’ she says, reflecting on the French luxury brand’s SS2O show. ‘So the models were film directors, musicians, writers...’ They included writer Pauline Klein, dancer and actor Sofia Boutella, and an employee, Laïa. ‘It brings a special intimacy to the show,’ says Ramsay-Levi.
Of course, fashion doesn’t operate in isolation. Many of Revolt’s clients are record labels and musicians. The soundtrack as the Maslin sisters and Findlay swap updates in their home-office is generally that of the stars their models have appeared beside in music videos, such as Stormzy and Dua Lipa (who Findlay jokes that he isn’t familiar with, explaining – fittingly – to the sisters, ‘I’m more of the underground guy – I’ll find you the musician you haven’t heard of’).
There’s been an increased emphasis on representation across the board in 2O2O, heightened by the Black Lives Matter activism following the death of George Floyd, with a demand for the world’s most visible businesses and brands to do better. With its broadened representation – greater individuality, more character and a wider range of physical attributes celebrated – fashion is moving towards that. Chandler believes that the language around this casting will no doubt shift, too, with a moratorium on the words ‘unconventional’ and ‘atypical’: ‘“Atypical” casting is typical. That’s the whole point – it represents everyone. That’s not weird.’ Representation is likely to only broaden, too, with a number of other new-gen agencies having launched and already securing luxury clients: there’s Zebedee Management, addressing the lack of representation for models with physical and mental disabilities; New Pandemics, focused on the visibility of LGBTQ+ models, and more. ‘When we started Midland in 2O16, we used to get asked “Is this a trend?”’ says Chandler. ‘I can say firmly that it isn’t.’ Revolt’s Maslin sisters agree. ‘It’s only going one way,’ Sophia confidently states. ‘We’re going to see more humanity.’
“AGENCIES NOW REPRESENT A MUCH BROADER RANGE OF talent than they
DID FIVE YEARS AGO... THERE’S A MUCH WIDER RANGE OF talent to book ”