#milan model

This year I am changing my modelling management worldwide. Some models do this from the safety of behind a computer, but I like to feed myself to the wolves so to speak and get in there in person. “Why?!” I hear you say, when that is costly and time consuming, travelling to all these cities when it might be for nothing. Well, firstly because it is really fucking easy to avoid an email and not so easy to avoid a present human. Second, because I’m not the standard Gigi Hadid kind of beauty so I like people being able to see my face in person and see the possibilities rather than potentially writing me off because of some D grade polaroids. And thirdly (is that a word...) it’s important for me to get a feeling from the team who will be booking me. I’ve been in this biz long enough to know that if they feel half assed about you that’s the way your career is going to go. It doesn’t matter how big the name of the agency is, if they’re like “yea maybe” run....run far away into the arms of one that loves you.

In saying all this I just finished traipsing around Milan doing all my agency meetings. One agency was so gung hoe about me and desperate for me to sign immediately, “we have a Valentino casting for you in 3 days! Make a decision fast”. This my darlings is like dangling a really juicy carrot in front of a horse. Yes it’s great they seem to love me but what is the rush to sign?! It is easy to get caught up in the excitement but again, I’m an old dog at this so I also realise that dangling a very enticing offer may just be a way to push you to sign with them on the spot and may or may not actually be a real prospect.  I had had a plan going into all my appointments and that was to get everyones feedback from a few cities and then make a thorough, thought through decision and I wanted to stick to it but damn that Valentino looked delicious. Somehow, I managed to wrangle a deal with them where I didn’t have to sign immediately but would go to the casting and if I got it, do it through them anyway. 

That is when the truth surfaced. “Valentino are looking for a girl with short blonde hair” was what they said when they agreed to my terms. “They must must have short hair and it must be blonde” (aha, this is why they were so gung hoe...there were no others like this on their books).

I thought that my chances were pretty good although I was  sure somewhere in Milan another short blonde haired girl was floating around... or 50 of them. I envisioned a casting of little white elves in ridiculously high heels lined up along the gleaming halls of Valentino where one by one we’d be called in to be picked apart to shreads because lets face it... that’s what actually happens.

However that was not to be. When I arrived I was confronted with a sea of long blondey/brown or brown haired models. I was the ONLY blonde girl, the ONLY short haired girl, let alone short haired blonde. If Valentino really was looking for a short haired blonde, I was it. I was called in, did my thing and then came back to pack my stuff up. As I looked around I noticed some of the plain janes were holding books from the agency that had sent me. The agency that had been so adamant it must be a short haired blonde. Standard fucking Milan right there. So typical. 

In the end I didn’t book the job and damn Daniel I am glad I stuck to my guns.