This has been an interesting year for the older generation of OG supermodels to chime in with their thoughts about the new generation of Instamodels. While Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid and Hailey Baldwin end up on more magazine covers and get more runway work these days, there are lingering questions about the state of modeling in general. Linda, Cindy, Stephanie, Christy, Naomi – all of those women could do it all and look impossibly glam while doing it. The Instamodels are a completely different thing, and they’re selling a completely different idea. But the OG supermodels have still thrown shade – everyone from Stephanie Seymour to Karolina Kurkova has made comments about how the Instamodels kind of suck. And now Alek Wek is getting in on the action.
Runway supermodel Alek Wek is skeptical of the newer Instagram-model trend.
“I think the fashion industry has gotten to a place where it is embarrassing. When I think of ‘Instagram models,’ I say you have to take baby steps. You cannot just walk straight onto the runway. When I was working, there was no digital. We actually worked, we used Polaroids,” she told us.
Wek, who’s walked for labels such as Chanel, Gucci, Dior and YSL, added: “Anything that those girls get for instant gratification, [they’ll] have to pay for it later.”
I sort of agree with Alek, and I think this is a completely valid point: “I say you have to take baby steps. You cannot just walk straight onto the runway.” Like Gigi Hadid was whining the other day about how no one had taught her how to walk a runway. Like, it never occurred to her that she shouldn’t take runway work before she had learned how to walk on the runway! And it does feel like some/many of these Instamodels really don’t know the basics of modeling – Kendall is always looking dead-eyed, Bella Hadid is always doing her one pose, and Gigi stomps and gallops her way down the runway. If the Instamodels had actually spent time trying to be good at something other than Instagram, maybe the OG supermodels wouldn’t have so much shade.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Fame/Flynet, WENN.
What a thing to aspire to – vapid modeling.
Gotta say. I agree. Very rich and rarefied-and-vapid-air people problem. Ugh.
There seems to be a rash of busted-crab face on the walkway.
VOGUE, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, ELLE, Maybelline, CoverGirl, MAC Cosmetics, etc are businesses and look for models to sell their magazines and products. The models who treat it as a business are businesswomen at the end of the day. If they treat it as a business and also can grow in other areas , I find nothing wrong with it. I loved watching the modeling business in the 90’s and think it’s fine if these women or ladies can make a business out of it now. More power to them as long as they grow in other areas, such as Christy Turlington getting her degree, Cindy Crawford building a business emprie, Claudia Schiffer also., Naomi Campbell ditto. Beverly Johnson a lucrative hair company. Iman several businesses. They are businesswomen at the end of the day, If they are successful at it and grow into other areas. Modeling is a big business employing photographers, makeup artists, stylists, designers, computer tech people, etc.
Some of these ladies get to travel the world, meet people, make loads of money and if they are smart they put some away for a rainy day , when the career is over.
Truly. I modeled professionally for 5+ years and it is not easy. Supermodels (and these super-Insta models) and the few elite who model exclusively are a small percentage of the modeling population. Many models do other things professionally in addition to modeling; it’s an unreliable job to be full-time, and it’s also a good way to earn money on the side. For example a girl in my agency was studying to be a spinal surgeon and modeled on the side.
I left the business because it was toxic for me and the amount of pressure/emphasis on the most superficial physical detail (a zit? Forget that audition for a close-up shot in an Amazon beauty campaign). That zit lost me $1500.00. It’s depressing having to rely on looks for money …made me feel like shit.
My favorite model of the new wave of models is actually a dude. His name is Lucky Blue Smith. I saw him interviewed on Ellen, he seemed sweet, he is enjoying it and just having a great time with his time in the sun as a model.
I don’t get why this is such a big deal. Fashion and publishing are highly competitive industries. Hiring models who come with a big fan base and their own ability to promote a brand seems like good business to me.
Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar had a really good article on why these models from social media are getting the contract endorsements, it was really interesting. It’s basically good business, as you said they come with a instant fan base and their social media sites are checked over with a fine tooth comb before agents sign them, to make sure they are real followers and not paid for followers. There are certain criteria these Instagram or social media models have to meet before a client or agent will take them on. Imo It’s just a new current phase of the model business for awhile. The business changes and grows with the whatever way is lucrative and right now social media is the thing in many businesses, not just modeling, so I can see why they choose some girls or women that way.
She is just annoyed that she has more competition.
Having women be less dependent on men in the industry (who often prey on them) is a good thing in my book.
But most of these models come form affluent families anyway, like the Kardashians, or daughter of whomever. Nowadays, a Yasmin LeBon or Cindy Crawford, or even Naomi Campbell wouldn’t heard of because their families ween’t famous.
Industries go through phases. The acting, entertainment industry has done this for years and it’s not the first time this has been done in modeling.
Affluent girls or people who had contacts got signed with the big agencies years ago , some became successful some didn’t though.
In acting Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Anniston, Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, to name a few ,had famous parents.
I see your point though, because some have famous parents or connections they can get in the door and get signed, whereas the people with no connections have a harder time, but in the end it’s still up to them what they do with their opportunity.
Cindy Crawford’s daughter is starting modeling now, her path made easier by Cindy’s success.
Eh, I’m glad modelling is moving more in this direction (it’s not like it’s a new thing, the daughters of rock stars and movie stars have been walking runways for decades now).
The more Insta-models there are, the less borderline trafficked models there will be. The more models who start out with wealthy parents and their own public profile, the less opportunity there is for rapey managers and photographers.
As it is, modelling is such a messed up industry. Using women who aren’t completely reliant on that industry for their livelihood is a great thing.
Modeling agencies basically always preferred people with their own money or social cache’ it was just hidden more in the past. This is not a new occurrence really.
I agree.
It’s a good thing that aspiring models can create their own portfolio and fanbase without being dependent on men for everything (who way too often expect ‘favours’ in return).
this feels like a grandpa complaining abut new technologie…. times are changing, srsly, polas are still being made and those girls are working, too. the old fashioned way. you always have to make place for a younger generation who will do things differently.
Besides that: Gigi Kedall and Co are only there because of their famous backgrounds, NOT talent. Thats the deal. They are modelling, not good, but they are. Stop whining, OGs!!!
Alek Wek is just so gorgeous. I wish I had something more substantial to add
Me too. )) I don’t agree with her opinion. But wow, she is a stunning woman. I like that she radiates confidence and not coyness like many other models.
She’s GORGEOUS Yes. Amazing looking.
Her autobiography is awesome. I read it years ago and loved her even more!
100% on board w everything she said. I had to stop following these “insta-models” b/c even on insta they try so hard to be authentic and it makes em look tacky, except Kendall her page is more tumblr-Esque so that’s fine. And they’re just all blantent advertising for these unaffordable clothes they get loaned or designers gift them…I just find them irritating.
I just found out about model Taylor Hill and she seems like a real person who worked for her modelling career as opposed to these girls who come from affluent, white privileged families
About Taylor Hill. She looks like a model. I don’t pay much attention to fashion and designer collections and all their favoured models and all, so I dont know all that much about her just that I happened to come across a youtube video of vogue (bristish vogue?) or some other magazine interviewing her this one time, she seemed really cool and, of course, gorgeous. I wonder why she hasn’t broken out onto the international scene yet?
No Taylor is everywhere! The teens love her just as much as Gigi & Kendall! I found out about her from my younger cousins & they keep up with the new it girls better than I do.
I don’t really think modeling, past or present was ever really a show of skill. Being a model is about business and creating and selling a brand. If these young girls figured that out quicker than you did, accept it. Being pretty is not a skill, but creating a brand based on that beauty is.
Dumb models wash up, smart models make money as a personal brand. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
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+1000 SunnyD, you said it far better than I could. All this complaining….let it go!
Modeling does require skill. They need to know what looks well, what angles, the light etc. I think people posted on this earlier.
But it is not a life saving profession, for example, so it is not very important in that sense. It is more similar to art. A very good model is a work of art, he/ she creates art with using the body.
Smiling with your eyes, any life in the eyes is a SKILL!
I never knew how hard modeling was until I tried it. The face or pose you think you’re making isn’t often the one you’re actually making lol Paying attention to your face and body and clothes etc.. while a camera flashes takes a lot of quick decisions.
Oh it’s totally a skill, and there are wannabes everyday who are pretty but can’t do it. Watch americas next top model, by rights they should all go somewhere, they don’t.
It may not be an olympic sport, or a gift for surgery but it is a skill set that some people have, some can learn and some never can.
Tyra Banks ANTM pick the best models. They taught them how to walk, pose and everything. I agree they should be the supermodels but we got over privileged models who thinks they can model and get to where they are by their well to do parents.
True. I use to work for a designer in his nyc showroom, in the garment center and tons of pretty and beautiful women came in for jobs when he did a casting for an ad, but only the ladies/women who knew how to show a garment or seemed to have a certain extra something that showed the garment well, or had certain magic in front of the camera, got the job and it wasn’t always the prettiest or most stunning, sometimes it was the plain girl barely noticed when she walked in who would go into the dressing room and come out to model the garment who brought the clothes to life or created magic in front of the camera. Some models just came alive in front of the camera. It was always amazing to see. It takes a certain skill. It has small similarities to acting in a certain way. imo
mb12 – so I want to know if designers actually tell their models NOT to smile – although I’m not a big on attending fashion shows, the ones I have seen seem to have outlawed smiling on the runway – Kendall’s not the only one out there with the dead eyes. The runway show, while beautiful in its way, seems very objectifying and old-fashioned. What if the models had a huge dressing room, multiple designers, could go and pick what EXACTLY what they wanted to wear? Maybe get their turn in line based on their prior modelling performances (so they don’t kill each other vying for the best clothes). It would be about women choosing what they LIKE to wear, what feels GOOD, and not about someone telling them what to put on. Then they could go out, meet with the buying public, tell them what they like about the designer and the clothes.
Hmmm. Anyone willing to sell the rights to the reality show?
I have such a hard time listening to someone talk about the need to learn to walk a runway and not think of Zoolander. Maybe these instamodels also struggle with left turns.
Her Magnum still needs work.
ROTFL
I feel like Karlie Kloss, Chanel Iman, and Jordan Dunn are some of the few exceptions – they dont have nearly as many followers as the Kendells and Gigis of the world but they worked for where they are today and can model and walk their asses off …
Karlie, chanel and Jordan made their names before instagram and social media in general. You can’t compare their career progression to instamodels like Kendall or Gigi even if they are now using social media to promote their brands.
While modeling is not neurosurgery, good models do have skills. At their best, they do inspire people to stop and look at/or buy the product. While the ‘instamodels’ will garner lots of eyeballs they don’t inspire anything else.
Every time I see a comment by an older model complaining about the new generation it just sounds like old people who constantly complain about cell phones and the internet. Things change and society changes. The nature of modeling changes. What’s the point of constantly throwing shade and making negative comments about girls who are just conforming to the current norms and ideals? I’m sure that before the 90s super model boom the idea of a model who was a celebrity in their own right just for looking pretty and wearing clothes would have been ridiculous. The same way that a young semi famous woman can become a supermodel simply by becoming a successful instagram model may seem ridiculous today. It just makes them seem dated and bitter to compare to the past.
Cause the new models suck. There’s no personality, no inherent glamour.
I think it’s basically a new aspect of the business, it saves the agencies Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rather than having to put their own AGENCY money into promoting a girl, (lady, women) the girl or young lady already has their own fan base through social media. It’s a smart business move for the agency.
Even though I loved the 90’s models, I can see why agencies are doing it the social media way now. It’s modern, it’s a new era a new way to make money for agencies.
LOL. No agency would put money into promoting the girl. At the most, they loan them to these unknown girls the same way record producers do. Then they inflate the charges the model earns almost nothing for their work. Or worse when they get paid by clothes from stingy designers, then they are practically in debt. And these are the ones working.
Modeling isn’t about promoting the model. It’s about the model selling a product. One of the issues with the Insta Girls is that designers are making a gamble that by having one of the Insta Girls model, their luxury brands become aspirational to their young audiences, in addition to the extra play that their ads get through the gossip blogs. We’ll see if this tactic works, though – it could very well backfire and instead make high end brands seem pedestrian.
Any big modeling agency has a promotional, publicity department. So for clients To see a model in the old school days, a agency had to put together a book for the girl and model composite cards for a girl to take to go-sees. For the model to get these things they had to do shoots, all this cost money and the big agencies would put the money up first and the model IF and When she made money would pay the agency back all the money for the promotional tools*composite cards, model book) in getting the new girls seen by clients and getting them out there. Some of these models (in the pre Instagram days ) never were able to pay agencies back, if they didn’t book jobs or were not booked, Agencies would drop them and lose money. The girls who were successful were able to book jobs and pay the agencies back for these promotional tools, Book, composites, test shoots, photoshoots, but NOW with Instagram girls the job is done for the agency before they are signed, because these girls have a plethora of photos online already, that clients can see, they have a fan base, a lot of the pre promotion to get a girl known by clients is done, because they are on line. It in turn saves a lot of work and money agencies had to do in the past.
My sister said she remembers when models promoted themselves by going to Studio 54 and getting photographed with celebrities, Andy Warhol or whoever and making the gossip pages in newspapers. lol
I would be really P*d if I worked so hard back then just to see how ‘easy’ it all seems now. That said, why any women with half a brain would want to be a model is beyond me. They are all treated like s***.
I’m old enough to remember when Kate Moss and Linda Evangelista, et. al began their careers and people who were ogs of the modeling world criticized the hell out of them. Not only that many of the icons of modeling, were first class divas with awful reputations. Modeling has always been a world of nepotism, for some reason it really rankles people, probably because it’s very obvious. I’m not really a fan of these “it” girls, but instagram is the new thing. Tomorrow it will be something else in discovering the next crop of models.
They’re modeling clothes, not solving the global poverty crisis. I kind of side-eye these OGs for acting like what they’ve done their whole careers is some kind of higher calling.
To be fair, not many people are doing jobs that have impact on humanity.
Modeling is work, just like any other. This nepotism, my daddy knows the boss crap, is everywhere. I cannot stand with insta models since they are not self-made, they are all rich girls with no education, most of the time very bland and already plastic, even though they are teens.
I don’t remember people questioning the modeling careers of Isabella Rosellini , Liv Tyler, Ivanka Trump, Lou Dillon and Devon Aoki. People were most harsh on Devon but it wasn’t her connections they were complaining about. It was mainly because she was too short for the runway. Her pictorials were highly praised.
Modeling and fashion is cyclical. The Instagirls are merely one tick in the cycle.
Sounds like the whining of the irrelevant. Either figure out a new way to make yourself bankable or quit crying buddy.
Alek Wek is hardly irrelevant. She is a woman who apparently knows that modelling is not a career you can do forever. She still works btw, and will forever be remembered as one of the greatest models the fashion world has ever seen. If she wanted to be on the runway, designers would be lining at her doorstep.
She doesn’t care, because runway doesn’t pay. Also, she can talk about it all she wants, because the Kendulls and GGs will not be remembered the way she will be. They will most likely end up as trophy wives, just like their mothers and that will be that with that.
Modelling is just the right venue to meet the highest bidder for women like them.
You are incredibly disrespectful and discourteous because of the anonymity the internet provides. Alek is not crying about not getting work. She is merely stating the facts. Learn to show the due respect or kindly stuff it.
Bravo Lisa – very well put!!
Mildly decent looking skinny chicks that won’t want to do any real work = nepotist instamodels
Oh yes, I’d turn down several million dollars offered by a designer or cosmetic company, because its not “real work”
lol
First of all I don’t get the writing off of Alek Wek by some of the comments here. Her modeling career broke tons of racial barriers in beauty when the standard like it is today was sharp Nordic blonde features. She made it possible for lots of women with African features to come into the industry so yes I’d say modeling used to be more than looking pretty.
YES. It is also worth noting that all of the big instamodels these days are super thin and white – not breaking any kind of barriers there. (Yeah, I know the Hadids are half Palestinian or whatever but they look completely white.)
Not to mention, she was also a freaking amazing model. Her walk was fantastic, and she created some really interesting images. I love her work.
Fashion is a business. If these girls get work, it is for a reason, i.e. because they are profitable. Plain and simple. No-one is doing anyone any favor. Times are changing with social media. People buy a lot less magazines. The fashion business had to get on with the program and adapt to survive. So I don’t understand what’s the point of whining about it. And let the girls have their moment and enjoy it while it lasts.
And Gigi’s walk used to be pretty bad but she has greatly improved and looked fab on the catwalk for Tom Ford and Venetta last month.
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I’ve commented before here that the concept of the “supermodel” was created by John Casablancas of the Elite Modeling agency. He used the modeling business to gain access to underage women and share this access with business partner/friends like Donald Trump. This isn’t to denigrate the work done by models he discovered, such as Cindy Crawford and Gisele Bundchen, but I think it should be taken into consideration when discussing female agency in the industry.
As for the “catwalk” concept, it was started over 100 years ago, and the purpose of it was to create a “living mannequin” to showcase clothing. In essence, it’s a sort of performance art. Does it signify the complete erasure of the model in favor of the display of the consumer good? Or, is it a showcase of the model’s bold personal skill (brand), which stands out from the crowd and creates a frenzy of desire for the consumer good? Interesting questions, but the one unchanging thing in both is the consumer item itself. Modeling has only and ever been about selling a product. It doesn’t matter whether it’s done artfully or like a hack–all it’s about is the bottom line of the clothing producer.
That’s why I liked Eileen Ford, she was all business, no nonsense. Men like Casablanca’s couldn’t stand her, because she was no nonsense.
And the real supermodel spoke.
This is not mere nostalgia: there will never be another Alek Wek. She was, and still is, one of a kind dragon of a model whose body is built like a fashion illustration.
Erin O’Connor, Angela Lindvall, Amber Valletta, Alek Wek, Shalom Harlow, Guinevere van Seenus, Carolyn Murphy, Karen Elson, Liya Kebede, Natalia Vodianova and of course Kate Moss… these exceptional women were the supermodel wave after the Christy/Linda/Naomi dominance.
Then came Daria, Gemma, Natasha, MariaCarla and the Russian wave. And now, we have the Bravo/E! Television reality tv brats.
Nowadays, the new girls do not have the beauty, mystery or elusiveness that makes a model a top model, then a supermodel. I would not want to see THE Alek Wek among all women folding her laundry or eating a cupcake on a dumb selfie because some company is paying her for her IG rental real estate. It is cheap, lowrent and tacky.
Instagram models don’t believe that there’s any skill involved in being a good model — all you do is show up and look pretty. They are so, so, so wrong.
Not just “instagram models” but they are also children of rich and famous people. Those who are not super rich or don’t have famous parents can’t even dream about modelling. The world is missing out on some unique and breath taking beauty ! Travel around the globe and you’ll see what I mean.
What does OG mean in this context? Old Guard? Overlapping Generations? Original Gangsta?
Haha…I’m stumped on that, too! I tried Googling it and came up with “Original Gangster” lol
I thought “Old Girls”?
My granddaughter models for a New York agency. But she is a smart girl by going to college first. Along with modeling she is building her other career too. Earning a income in modeling alone is just not enough steady income for most of the girls/women.
I’m confused why we are still having this discussion. The fashion industry is a business. Businesses make money. Millenials (myself included) are the focus in marketing for said businesses. Hire people (models) this generation likes = $$ for business. This is the way it is now & not just in the fashion industry. Complaining about it over & over again won’t do much good.
That’s not really how it works.
High fashion is aspiration. It isn’t about people being able to afford their looks NOW, but it’s about young women growing up with dream brands and dream purchases (not for nothing, handbags, makeup, and perfume, ‘gateway’ items like that – are extremely high profit margins) who not only may make those dream purchases later in life, but also help make the labels exclusive NOW. Hiring InstaGirls is an attempt to tap into the Millenial Market, but I actually think it’s a mistake. These girls make high fashion look pedestrian, and because their images are “relatable” instead of “high fashion” they’re not going to produce the desired affect. Fashion is cyclical. It’s a trend, and part of why we’re seeing InstaModels is because actresses have taken up such a huge market share in print that a model has to already have that brand awareness.
But keep in mind, the Millenial Market isn’t nearly as powerful as you think. Just ask Victoria’s Secret.
Alek l completely agree with you.
Oh who cares? An elitist world that has no interest in me other than my $$$$. About how I feel about them.