Every line of work comes with its own, industry-specific lingo, and the world of modeling is no different.
At Premier Model Management’s office near London’s Drury Lane, the phrases ‘she’s been optioned’, ‘she’s doing an exclusive’ and ‘speak to the mother agent’ are the ones that fly most frequently across the table, as their team of bookers makes the final preparations for the London Fashion Week shows.
“You have a first or a second option, which is like the status of a model’s booking,” Annie-Lou Jennings, Premier’s new faces agent, explains of the complicated bartering process that goes on between agents and designers. Until a girl is ‘confirmed’ the deal is not done, and the graded optioning system allows all parties to wriggle out of it should a better offer come along. “A girl might be [tentatively] offered a job, but you could be holding back to see if another one that she went to a casting for comes in, and you can’t commit until you know. It takes a lot of calls and negotiations to make that final decision and everything can change at the last minute.”
Why all the back and forth, you might ask? Why don’t the designers just say, ‘that girl looks pretty, let’s go with her’? Every role a model secures comes with high stakes - designers want the hottest line-ups they can afford and, for the models, getting in with the right brands can lead to financial gain and career longevity.
“A lot of the job is about strategies,” says Fanny Zakrisson, the agency’s senior women’s agent. “Each girl will have an agent working for her in New York, Milan and Paris, as well as her mother agent, which is usually her home territory and the person who discovered her. All of these [stakeholders] will talk and try to make the best plan for the girl’s career.”
For newcomers hoping to make a successful launch into the saturated market, there are two lines of attack. An agent might gun for ‘exclusives’ securing one, special booking with a super-brand to catapult a model into the editors’ consciousness or, the other option, a divide and conquer approach, where you simply aim to get your girl of the moment’s face into as many hot-ticket shows as possible.
“The strategy depends on their availability as some girls have commitments with university or other work,” Jennings explains. “We want them to work with as many nice people as possible to build their relationships and experience. And to have a good time and get to do things that they would enjoy - that’s the most rewarding thing.”
Premier’s new girl to watch this season is Hannah Motler, a 16 year-old Brit who was scouted by the agency when she was just 12. Motler has spent the last two weeks making her runway debuts in New York, walking for the likes of Victoria Beckham and Marc Jacobs, chaperoned by her mum.
“She’s our new superstar,” says Jennings. “She started with Calvin Klein in New York, that was her very first show, and then she’s done Coach, Helmut Lang and more. So fingers crossed she’s going to kill it for the whole season ahead.”
Being thrust into the spotlight could be dizzying for someone so young (auditioning for Victoria Beckham must be a surreal experience) and the Premier team is there to coach and develop their talents. “[Hannah] saw David at the show and was really excited,” Zakrisson laughs. “She saw Kendall Jenner arriving backstage at Calvin Klein too, and called me to tell me about it,” adds Jennings. “I just said you’ll be rubbing shoulders with them now, so it’ll be totally normal.”
As well as negotiating, the other key skill needed to be a good model agent is an ability to mother someone. The press is constantly plagued with accusations of designers mistreating young models, and managing the health and wellbeing of their charges, as well as setting realistic, achievable work schedules, is of paramount importance to the Premier agents.
“I spend a lot of time talking to girls about what to expect and speaking to the mums,” says Jennings. “We’re really proud to nurture and develop the careers of key British models here.” Arguably the agency’s most famous British export is Naomi Campbell.
Success for all parties is career longevity and variety. Campbell is now 47 and a bonafide supermodel, but some new starters are just using the opportunity to earn some cash and gain some work experience while they get through university. “Success in the short term is repeat bookings, or after the show the client may be interested in booking her for the lookbook, or studio fittings, or for the advertising campaign,” Zakrisson notes of the endless cycle of work available and the constant stream of jobs to fill.
During September’s rush of catwalk shows, agents are expected to be on call around the clock. But they will be well compensated come October. “I switch my phone off when it’s done,” says Jennings. “And we’re each given an official sleep day. I go for a massage and read a book, or stay in bed and watch movies. That’s the best bit of all.”
Source: telegraph.co.uk