Unconventional Modelling Agencies on a Quest to Reshape the Industry

Given these observations, Kaptownwala’s goals have shifted over time. “Though representation can bring attention to a lot of things, it’s not where the work ends; it’s a starting point.” She highlights the notion of storytelling—and how model casting is a part of larger narratives put forth by brands and the media—as a more imperative focus moving forward.

While Zebedee works with many different brands, bookings remain unpredictable rather than consistent, with most clients reaching out for models for one-off campaigns to suit a representation quota. But Johnson won’t let that faze her. “At the moment, we’ll take tokenism, because inclusion has to start somewhere. If everyone’s scared about being called out as tokenistic, then you have zero bookings.

“When I started the agency, people would say ‘You do know that if you expand your agency to include cisgender models, you’ll earn more.’ I thought about it for a second, but then I was like, ‘Until the Fords, the Elites and the IMGs have as many trans models as their cisgender counterparts, I’m not going anywhere.

the input of models themselves, is “a call to action” to the people who work with We Speak. “The industry is moving in the right direction,” says Mariah, “but it still has a lot of work to do.”Ugly Models—“the world’s longest running character model agency”—was ahead of the curve when it launched back in 1969. So far ahead, in fact, that “we were like aliens,” laughs Marc French, who signed on with Ugly as a model over two decades ago and now runs the agency.

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