By Alex Knies
@phresh_offtherunway
@alexknies_
Once the word got around at my school that I signed with a modeling agency, I was flooded with questions. From my teachers to my peers, everyone wanted know about my glamorous double life. Even the star quarterbacks asked me how my latest photo-shoot went. But I’ve found that a lot of them don’t really care about my busy shoot days, they care about the fame that comes with it.
Before I even signed with my first agency, my aunt Jenny (a supermodel alumni) warned me that modeling is more than just sitting pretty. Modeling is hard work.
Think about all of the models that have become household names. There are not many our grandparents can name, other than “that skinny bitch who slept with Johnny Depp.” A lot of my friends at school can’t even think of Kate Moss- only Gigi Hadid or Kendall Jenner. But Jenner and Hadid aren’t models that arose from the ground up. They grew from the marble tile, up. Don’t get me wrong: I love what #KenGi has been doing, but did they work for that title?
A ton of girls get this misconception that they can just instantly move to New York and model for Dior and Michael Kors. But modeling is a process. If you don’t feel like working hard, you may as well quit now. Don’t expect Karl Lagerfeld to stop you on the streets and declare you his new muse. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that.
Unless you work for Vogue or pay in-depth detail to fashion weeks, you wouldn’t know many big designers other than Chanel and Louis Vuitton. There are so many innovative designers that get shadowed by the media. Erin Fetherston has to work ten times harder than Kanye West at her own game. The same goes for us models.
I know tons of girls who exercise two times a day and eat clean. Instead of taking selfies all day, they get to know people in the industry so they’re able to move up. But once Kendall or Cara step outside again, all of their hard work is forgotten. Because why would you want to hire a sweet, beautiful girl instead of a pretentious snob?
The only thing we can do right now is to work hard and build our careers. Build our portfolios, and build our connections. Because, sadly, connections are apparently what get you places. Screw work ethic and flexibility, if your mom doesn’t star on any of the Housewives you won’t be successful.
So while I could set the entire football team up with Victoria’s Secret angels, I won’t. I’ll let them work for it. See how they find trying to get into the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show without me. Ironically, I’m trying to do the same thing.
