The Return of the Supermodel?

[Bugsy]

^ they're what passes for a super nowadays - yeah they got big because of their connections and being pushed as celebrities, it's not their modelling work that made them huge in the first place like it did for Gisele, Cindy, Kate, Naomi, Christy, Linda etc. But they're famous and they are models, that's all it takes.

That's an indictment of the designers who chose them. I mean Michael Koss is supposed to represent taste and yet, he keeps using Bella Hadid, because of her instagram followers. She is not special at all. The diesigners force these models on people, while real models falls by the wayside.

 

[LadyJunon]

I don't think we'll really have another "Supermodel Era" for a while, purely because of how this social media era of fashion doesn't support organic growth at all. They expect you to be walking for Chanel, Hermès, 50% of LVMH and 80% of Kering on your first season.

If you succeed, your peers call you a sellout, if you don't, they call you a failure.

Also, this gets worse if you're a minority or a plus sized model, because the community you "represent" will try to live their dreams through you and throw social pressure to "change the industry".

This isn't just the case for models, it's also the case for designers, stylists, photographers, journalists, etc. Not only is this modus operandi toxic and unfair, it isn't sustainable and the industry will start sorting out its trash very soon.

 

[blueorchid]

I'd really rather see the return of the superstar photographer than the supermodel, when I think about it. But that's NOT going to happen either!

 

[LadyJunon]

I'd really rather see the return of the superstar photographer than the supermodel, when I think about it. But that's NOT going to happen either!

The return of the superstar photographer would probably be more useful and longstanding in this industry than a return of the supermodel era. I'd say I'd also like a return of the superstar designer, but not until designers as a whole get their everything back on point.

 

[Phuel]

The return of the highest standard of creative talent in production/creatives/presentation/casting all working together trumps over supermodels/superstar photographers/celebrity stylists, or whatever they’re called these days. When these superwhatevers are lazy and coast on their name brands (...hello Carine), they’re the exact same as the sloppy lessers. Put in the blood/sweat/tears, rise to the highest level of creative and technical vision and have a distinct POV—a story not tell, whomever you are, like at Zara and like the new team of Italian Bazaar. Don’t care nor impressed if you’re Meisel/Kristen McMenamy/Pat McGrath etc etc. If you’re lazy and sloppy, then you’re on the same basic level as Nadine Ijewere/Paloma/Zoe Grossman.

 

[Drusilla_]

Unfortunately' "brand" is what makes the closest thing to a super these days, and as we see, it basically releases them from all obligation to be any good at what the actual modelling part. Same goes for the photographers (I like Petra Collins, but she's mostly moved on from fashion photography - most of the better-done fashion imagery these days is coming from Asian magazines, even if the photographers' work for western editions of those same magazines isn't the best they can do e.g. Cho Gi-seok).

But for models, the bar is so low it's ridiculous. Bella Hadid seems to work harder than other nepo models, but she was being hyped as the queen of Fashion Week left and right last season for walking 23 shows. That's as little as a third of what the top models of 10-15 years ago were doing (Irina Lazareanu walked 76 shows one season at her peak), it says a lot that these kids think 30 shows a season is a lot.

 

[LadyJunon]

But for models, the bar is so low it's ridiculous. Bella Hadid seems to work harder than other nepo models, but she was being hyped as the queen of Fashion Week left and right last season for walking 23 shows. That's as little as a third of what the top models of 10-15 years ago were doing (Irina Lazareanu walked 76 shows one season at her peak), it says a lot that these kids think 30 shows a season is a lot.

In their defence, most better known models these days seldom walk more than a dozen or so shows in a season so Bella's 18 (19 if you include Fendi's NYFW show) seems impressive to this generation.

Most of the models in the top 20 (Bella is around the 30 mark) are mostly anonymous-type models and only six models this season have walked 30 or more shows.

The model with the most shows in the Spring '23 season, America Gonzalez, only walked 34 shows (37 if you include Paco Rabanne, Alaïa and Jacquemus, who all showed off schedule). Even Karlie Kloss walked more than that at her prime.

Source: Models.com

 

[Drusilla_]

^that's fair, I think it does speak to a general lowering of the bar all around though. 34 shows is not a bad season at all, but it was a number no one would have blinked at even what, five years ago? when the maximum was like 50.

 

[Urban Stylin]

From the current bunch of today's supers I think Bella might be the closest to the title. Her modeling work is admirable both runway and print and has been improving consistently while her social media fame and connections didn't hurt plus she's or was on a tv series. The mainstream may know her and her sister as Hadid sisters from a reality show but the reality show or their mother being in it didn't have a global impact on their careers as KKWK on Kendall's or Beiber on Hailey's career. I actually got to know about their mother being a reality tv stars after they became famous. Gigi may not be as consistent as her sister but as far as nepo models go these two have worked hard with Bella especially getting really good at her job not just sitting back and relying on her name or famous partners. Most of her viral moments are attached to the fashion industry not her parents or other things outside the industry.

 

[Drusilla_]

yeah I'll give it to Bella, she actually does the work, out of all the nepo social media model lot she is the one who I think might have actually been a working model in the 00s if she'd been ten years older. Gigi worked a fair bit too but her being somewhat out of the limelight the last two years was due to her pregnancy/baby, before that she was easily more famous than her ex-partner (and that is saying something) and still is.

I had no idea what Real Housewives was either when I first heard of Gigi, and I agree it didn't make her famous the way KUWTK/Bieber did, but the new supers are still built more of pap shots and red carpet (with accompanying breathless Vogue hype of whatever outfit they've got on) than whatever they do on a runway or in editorial/cover. Though in Bella's case, that might actually be changing after the Coperni spray-on dress - my opinion of it aside, it went massively viral even among non-fashion people, and she got respect for committing to that because the dress itself was so lacklustre it was the stunt aspect of it+ her presence selling the end result. That was what supers were, they could make even mediocre clothes look good or at least interesting. And Bella does, even if she'll never be at the level of Gisele/Kate/Naomi/Sasha, she can pull it off to a degree now. Edit: Same with Gigi, she knows how to pose in a photograph for editorial and not just in selfies. I do think their respective careers enjoy a bit of a halo effect from them being sisters though, which I don't actually mind - they work well together even in cheesy campaigns like the Versace one.