|
In the Nineties, all you can say is that in terms of popularity, the
supermodel has supernovaed. She has escaped the tightly regulated confines of The Fashion
Industry to sprint wild and free through rock videos, motion pictures, bathing suit
calendars, exercise videos, music magazine covers, theme restaurants...one could go on
forever.
Clearly Models have gone Pop, in the Warholian sense of the expression and ain't a damn
thing we can do now...but aspire. With this new drive in the fashion world
for...diversity, uniqueness and edginess - all of a sudden it seems virtually anybody
could be a model. Since it's become habit: blame Kate Moss (in collaboration with Calvin
Klein) Not quite 5'8", no problem! A lazy eye - that's fine! Crooked
teeth. Whatever! Kate had it made and now a legion of young ladies are
flaunting their flaws hoping it will give their beauty a stronger edge.But now, for the
reality check: being attractive is not quite the same thing as being a model. Just
because a girl or a boy is beautiful doesn't mean they should model and conversely, just
because a girl or a boy isn't conventionally beautiful doesn't mean they shouldn't.
In fact that old cliché about models not looking anything like their pictures in person
is quite true. They couldn't possibly, not unless they went food shopping with a hair and
make-up team, a strobe light and a photoshop expert in tow. What needs to be
understood is a that a model is a kind of species. Models are precisely like
thoroughbred horses: we're talking a strange genetic ideal here. The principle of
model beauty is not the same thing as "next door beauty" or as NYW nightlife
editor Crave, brutally summarizes: "There's 'industry beauty' and there's 'street
beauty'.
The sexy girl in thigh high boots and hot pants you see walking down the street
stopping traffic does not necessarily work when you put her on a runway beside a Gunivere
Van Seemus who you can walk down the street with and not provoke any drama at all!
" The question is: How do these movers and shakers know who to make a star model and
who to politely and (not so politely) turn away?
Here published for the first time, in step by step details, are the unwritten rules
which govern the peculiar laws of supermodeldom. Our first installment addresses the basic
requirements necessary for a spectacular career. |
