They are always looking for the next Fabio. Your son might appear on a book cover of a Romance novel, “Beach girl dreams” or “The Lonely Rich Woman”.

I was a model. A low-level one in Chicago -- think dance wear catalogs and fur salon shows and car shows, lol. But I did a few good projects and got a couple of national commercials.

Modeling is the opposite of the rest of the work world -- the men are second-class citizens, making far less money and often treated poorly. In much of print work they are simply foils to the woman in the picture. And there is far less work all around for them.

I wish I could tell you how to get started, but I can't, I was modeling in the 90s -- things are so different nowadays with the rise of the influencer. But I would say this: first things first, he needs to learn his angles before thinking about putting a portfolio together.

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe any decent parent would encourage their child to go this route.

The experience that my DS had was fine. Shopping at Old Navy? Target? Anywhere? Clothing models all over the place. Should the clothes be on hangers instead? Not sure customers would like that.

My kid did teen clothes. He did winter clothes in the summer and summer clothes in the winter. It wasn’t a big deal. It got to be a time suck and we all wanted to do different things so he stopped.

Anonymous wrote:He needs to be willing to be gay for pay.

No.

I cannot believe any decent parent would encourage their child to go this route.

Anonymous wrote:He needs to be willing to be gay for pay.

Wrong.

He has to be willing to embrace the awkward. My DS had a hard time with that at first.

He needs to be willing to be gay for pay.

Tell him to get a portfolio together. My daughter was "discovered" by a modeling agent when she was five when we were at the Georgetown Harbor. She did some catalog work , and a few shows. She didn't make a ton of money, but had fun doing it.

Former cameraman chiming in but in video, not still. Close friend was Paris based fashion photographer who placed a colleague’s son in top modeling agency, now a pro.

Start with pics.

It sounds like your DS does have the elements but if this were my son I would ask him one question: is he comfortable being propositioned by gay men? It’s a cliche in the business- but from what my friend told me this is reality.

Otherwise pretty sweet gig if you have ‘it’

Good luck!

My DS was a print model when he was younger. Never any high end brands but brands that people buy for normal clothes, if that makes sense. Try a local agency first. Companies still use basic print models so I would overthink the social media presence.

It takes a bit of practice and patience. And a thick skin.

Start building a book and send it to the top agencies in NYC.

Blu Steel!

Friend's younger sister (23) is a model. Mostly print but works with a lot of high end brands. Honestly, she, along with most of her model friends, all started out as influencers who started getting brands sending them things and eventually big enough to where Management companies were reaching out to them and that's how they took off. I think the days of the typical "modeling companies" that we think of are gone.

Not sure which forum this hits- so trying here. My son is interested in modeling.
He is 18 and has the tall, slender build along with a beautiful face but is not sure where to start. Obviously, I’m worried about him just applying to random ads or tik tok posts as everything appears to be (and often turns out to be) a scam.

I have so many concerns but don’t want to keep him from trying to pursue something that, though chances are exceptionally slim, may work out in some way???

Has anyone been down a similar road? Any advice you can share?