Before Instagram, agents DISCOVERED models
When I worked at the agency it was during summers when I was still at university. I was the youngest person (beside the models) in the office, and I had the least amount of knowledge about anything to do with . I remember one day, one of the bosses coming to my desk, and saying can you do something for me?
So way back when…
- when a model used to clutch their BIG BLACK BOOK with them everywhere
- enhancing or injecting their faces with cosmetic treatments
- basically before Social Media…. there was the open casting call
open call
So the boss sits me at the entrance of the office and says on Tuesdays and Thursdays we have this open call for 2 hours in the afternoon, where potential models or models who want to switch agencies, they can present their books. I was asked to oversee these models and books.
When commercial is bad
Why did they ask me?
The truth was the agents were out scouting, looking for people who didn’t want to be models. What I learned was that most people thought they were good looking enough to be a model were indeed attractive but had some sort of “commercial” beauty. I also learned that the most successful models never really dreamed of being a model, it was something that all happened on accident. This was a part of their allure you could see on camera, the effortlessness of it all.
commercial = cheesy
Back to my desk…
Since I was at a high fashion agency, and the word commercial was equivalent of (90’s term) cheesy. Not sure if there is a synonym for cheesy besides maybe corny? However I think it could mean many things, but it was used to describe something suburban, ordinary, overexposed, appealing to the masses. For reference, that was the word you would describe for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. (BTW back in the day the SI Swim Issue was the only place you would see “voluptuous” models but since we are discussing kids modeling that’s a Kardashian type of conversation that I will postpone for a later date.)
So I sat down and watched hopeful candidates come in. If they weren’t too short or too heavy than they were “commercial”. These were the most beautiful people at your high school. The thing is although confidence is attractive, it didn’t have that spark of someone who truly didn’t know they are beautiful or could at least photograph well.
these days
The game has changed. We have lots more cosmetic enhancement and photoshop that can fix the rest. Besides that lots of celebrity nepotism in our advertising. In ways, I think the entire industry has gone the commercial route. Maybe that’s a good thing? I see lot more diversity.