In today’s modelling world, lithe limbs and sharp cheekbones are not enough. A stellar career requires not only a good face, but also followers — preferably hundreds of thousands across various social media channels. This is the age of the Instagram-model.
The campaign for Calvin Klein, the company that built Kate Moss’s career, turning an unknown teenager from Croydon into a global icon back in 1992, is currently fronted by Kendall Jenner, who has 27m Instagram followers and is better known for being part of the Kardashian reality TV dynasty than for signing with Elite model agency. Cara Delevingne, one of Britain’s most booked faces, has 13m; and not one of the newly signed Victoria’s Secret “Angels” (one of the most lucrative contracts in modelling) has fewer than 60,000. Last September, American Vogue paid tribute to the social media might of these models by dubbing Delevingne, Karlie Kloss (2.4m followers) and Joan Smalls (982,000 followers) the “Instagirls” on its cover.
Instagram has turned models into active “brand ambassadors”, employed not only to front the campaigns, but to announce, share and promote them on their personal channels. Model agencies are setting up whole divisions to handle the growing demand.