Models Switching Agencies

[KhaoticKharma]

I don't know if it's a result of or a cause for this major shift, but modeling itself is shifting- the Eastern European wave is making way for a pouty lipped Dutch/Benelux trend, and those girls are the girls that can snag both high fashion gigs and those moneymaking beauty and commercial campaigns. Ford has already managed to get the decidedly high fashion Chanel Iman a Pink VS campaign, and Lakshmi Menon with H&M. If they can continue to combine a versatile roster with spectacular bookers, Ford could definitely become the powerhouse it used to be.

 

[Faith Akiyama]

anyone know if the rumor that karoline, after being ousted from ford, is going to elite??

Scratch what I said earlier about this BLACKLAB...seems no longer the case.

Sorry to bring back this topic again Onward with the Silent discussion

 

[Mad0789]

i heard caroline and her people from ford are going to supreme!

 

[agee]

There is a thread The Model Agency Mega Thread that is for general discussion about agencies and I think someone created a thread about the Ford - Woman - Supreme matter. I am not bringing this up to be a pain, but people do go to certain threads long after the fact to catch up on things or to educate themselves about a matter and there is a lot of good stuff being posted in this thread that may get lost in the ether so to speak.

 

[*Bianca*]

It is still relevent to this thread though.

 

[Faith Akiyama]

It is still relevent to this thread though.

Yep, it definitely is, but agee is right as well...kind of a dilemma to manage but there is no actual solution as the issue spans across so many things. Nueva is doing a decent job summarizing things for the threads so perhaps that's what we'll go with

 

[fritmayo]

Silent opening in NY was one of the rumors of the season in Paris... some said it was going to happen soon, some that it wasn't. I guess their website is giving us a reliable proof they did it.

Now if it's going to work, only time will tell. But I believe it's quite a smart idea, especially for a "personal agency" as you say. If they are able to work it out, it's great to push the concept as far as possible, with a very tiny and select roster. As for partnerships with others, I don't think it will be a problem, they've already managed Anna this way for a few seasons and now Othilia. It's just getting more official.

)

THIS IS the near futur of modeling
web, video, all modern comunication technologies....who the hell needs a team of 20 bookers in 5 cities, to manage girls?
Does a rock band need a management on every continent, and need managers different in Paris, Milan and London to manage a european tour

A bit like the big airlines companies who have needed Virgin and Ryanair to arrive, to start to think it was possible to reduce cost,
It seems no one in modeling ever thought the whole thing could be managed in a MUCH cheaper way than what they do since 20 years...
In fact, not exactly everybody in modeling did not get it, notice that in asia, including in Tokyo, agencies work like that since ever, very small team of booker, very small number of girls to manage...and everybody makes money


How silent will do? well easy, basically as Penny points, they do it already since 2 years, and as long as the number of girls is kept low, that proove already to be no problem.

Silent seems to know rather well what they are doing, they have waited 2 years to show it a bit more officially, but fact that it is 2 years they prepare the field, gently, almost in...silen(t)ce....

 

[fritmayo]

ok so based on all the postings, this is what I've concluded (speculation only


1. Paul Rowland is leaving Women/Supreme to head up Ford.



4. Women will be able to stay afloat financially, as long as Maria Cognata (head of Women Direct) remains on board, to keep this commercial board going.



Does this sound right?

1.If it just that, it would be rather disappointing.
The more i hear about it from people in NY agencies, the more they expect Rowland to use Ford to make something completely new, i mean a really new way to manage a model agency.
And by the way, i hear also more and more another name in the agencies involved...

2. women has never been and will never be "afloat" financially, as as i said previously, they just have people making big cheques every year to pays the unpaid bills...
As long as these people are happy to make cheques, Women will stay there, if one day they are fed up to make cheque, Women will close, as easy as that...

 

[Flashbang]

Get your saucers ready ladies.
Scandal - Supreme and Women Direct sells to Ford for millions.

And inside source tells us that Supreme was not sold? And anyone thinking for millions is delusional.

The new Ford owner convinced Paul Rowland to make a move in an effort to add a new aspirational ideal to the Ford agency.

Paul Rowland , Mohammad , Peter Cedeno ( Supreme), and Maria Cognata (of Women-Direct) are headed to Ford to front the revamp.

The source adds that Supreme and Women Direct are not Paul Rowland's to sell at this stage?

With Paul and Mohammad out of Supreme the agency will eventually shutter with the key girls headed to Ford. Paul and his team somehow managed to keep the agency afloat on art and creativity for all this time. And with that element gone and no money ......

10 Ford Bookers already got walking papers. And they are reportedly seeing fire.

Elite could score Caroline who was reportedly left out in the cold on this switch up.

Our source adds - 'I am scared'

Another source retorts - Ford could be a big player once egos are left at the door and Paul gets to do his job.

And finally I hear, this could this be Rowland's way of showing up Louis Chabon?

frillr.com

 

[carmen_kass]

I seriously don't know who any of these people are.

 

[zehenspitze]

Women: impossible that it did not make money so far with 30% of the models.com top 50 aboard. Plus: stable and very strong booking team, effective scouting. I'd say: a robust money maker despite the changes elsewhere.

Women direct: small team = low fixed costs, some very successful girls, thus very likely to be decently profitable. Survived the departure of Duncan, will survive the departure of Maria I guess. One of the most remarkable start-ups in the industry, although it happened very silently (silence seems to be fashionable now....)

Supreme: great reputation, great style, but few girls that made it beyond shows and editorials ... and the first 2-3 seasons; certainly loss making - for years. Sad to say: like many beautiful things it depended on the ability to get/find new funding regularly. Maybe this unexpected development was welcomed by all parties involved as an elegant way-out form an "impasse" of difficult solution...?

 

[CharlottefromCA]

sorry if this has been posted, but uhhm, when did this happen?

Ymre Stiekema: Elite Milan --> Women Milan

 

[penny609]

sorry if this has been posted, but uhhm, when did this happen?

Ymre Stiekema: Elite Milan --> Women Milan

I don't know if it has been mentioned here but it's already a little while since it happened. I think when Ymre's agent at Elite Amsterdam left the agency with her or close to that moment.

 

[fritmayo]

Women: impossible that it did not make money so far with 30% of the models.com top 50 aboard. Plus: stable and very strong booking team, effective scouting. I'd say: a robust money maker despite the changes elsewhere.

you know from outside, you just see the result about girls arriving.
But some agencies, for the same results spend very little money, other spends 5 times more.
As i have personal first hand experience with women, i would call their scouting system all but effective and i must say that the way they did it in the last years has anyway FOR SURE a limit of time after it can not at all work anymore.

And I m pretty sure in 2- 3 years, i will be able to say exactly the same thing about NEXT...

 

[zehenspitze]

you know from outside, you just see the result about girls arriving.
But some agencies, for the same results spend very little money, other spends 5 times more.
As i have personal first hand experience with women, i would call their scouting system all but effective and i must say that the way they did it in the last years has anyway FOR SURE a limit of time after it can not at all work anymore.

And I m pretty sure in 2- 3 years, i will be able to say exactly the same thing about NEXT...

the biggest driver in costs is personnel; I don't see an unreasonable number of people at Women's board nor in the back office, and the rumours in the industry are that salaries+bonusses are average+ and without excesses. I don't think that IMG or DNA have a lower cost base (and certainly not one fifth)

as to their scouting system: I don't think they have a special scouting system - as nobody else does these days. It's just about:
1) having lots of great models and performing well - this automatically triggers a pull effect, most model suppliers (the "mother" agencies) with a great new discovery would have you then on their short list of max 2-3 agencies who to propose the talent to
2) having good scouts on the payroll that stay close to the mother agencies, travel regularly and do a lot of quantitative screening - this is the push side. Women is certainly investing more money on this end then most other agencies.
3) having an excellent eye in picking the potential stars out of a haystack of amazingly looking new discoveries - this is very rare and certainly a strength of Women
4) treating model suppliers correctly or even generously - this is the loyalty effect

Next is actually doing the same, maybe with some improvement potential still to be unlocked. And all others (apart from the top competitors) will have to follow on this route if they want to get top talent.

 

[fritmayo]

1 would have you then on their short list of max 2-3 agencies who to propose the talent to
.

I think it is well here Woman has some problems in many countries, due to some of their pratices of the last years...

i m not gonna make detail list here, but i know at least 4 countries rather important in scouting potential these days, where ALL main mother agents broke up all relation in the last 2 years...

 

[lanvinray]

Mariacarla Boscono: Supreme NY --> Women

looks like she's going back to her old agency...not Ford

 

[modela]

never understood why she went in the first place?

 

[*Bianca*]

Martha Streck: Supreme -> Women NY

 

[Yorka]

I don't know if it is true...

Chanel Iman: Ford -> Supreme
Jacqueline Jablonski: Ford -> Supreme

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