Malick Bodian

The Senegalese-Italian model currently lives in Paris and is part of the list of the TOP 50 most outstanding models according to models.com. In these 2 months of 2021 he has walked for Etro F/W 21, Dior men F/W 21, Off-White S/S 21 Show, Fendi F/W 21 Men’s Show, among others. 

Braien Vaiksaar

The Estonian model has worked this 2021 with brands such as Hermès, Dior Men, Solid Homme, Etro and Fendi in their Fashion Weeks 2021. He has also worked for brands such as Zara, Hugo Boss, and has appeared in magazines such as Hero Magazine. His unique style is part of the reasons he’s one of our top runway male models for this year.

Yura Nakano

Japanese-Taiwanese model living in Tokyo has currently modeled for Hermès, K-Way, Etro, Fendi and Emenegildo Zegna this 2021 during Fashion Week. He has also worked for brands such as NIKE x ASOS and has been featured in Vogue Taiwan magazine in November 2020. 

Aleksandr Gordeev

The Russian model has paraded this 2021 during Fashion Week for Junya Watanabe, Kolor and Yohji Yamamoto. In addition to working as a model, he works as an artist and has exhibited his artwork in several exhibitions. The last one was in 2020 during November-December at “Lines of Thought 2020”, CICA Museum, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

Jeremiah Berko Fourdjour

The Ghanaian fashion model living in London has worked for Dior Men’s Pre Fall 2021, Dior Men, Hermès, Qasimi F/W 2021. He has also worked for brands such as Boss and Simone Rocha x H&M. His fresh fashion won his place among the top runway male models of 2021.

These top models also started their modeling careers as beginners. Do you want to start yours? Fight for your dreams and join ModelManagement.com, the biggest modeling platform worldwide.

The post The 5 Top Runway Male Models of 2021 appeared first on ModelManagement.com's Blog.

Here they are, the male models that caught our eye in 2011!

Jon Kortajarena

At a first glance you will notice Jon K’s pronounced cheek bones and his mesmerising green-eyed stare. But it was not only Jon’s beautiful face that helped him through his long-term modelling work with Tom Ford OR his numerous advertising campaigns with Hugo Boss, Jean-Paul Gaultier, DKNY, David Yurman, Lacoste and H&M in 2011…

Jon has charisma, charm and a great presence together with modest sex appeal. All of which made him perfect for his first film appearance, alongside actor Colin Firth, in ‘A Single Man’ (2009) – a hit move written, directed and most importantly styled by Mr. Tom Ford himself! Check out Jon in the movie:

For S/S 2012 we will see Jon featuring in advertisements for Mavi Jeans, Sergio K as well as in his second move: Alpha.

Andrej Pejic

For being on the scene only a short time, Andrej caused quite a stir in 2011 and left people in a state of gender confusion.

In 2011, he gained credit never imagined before after walking both menswear and womenswear on Jean-Paul Gaultier’s runway. He also walked for John Galliano, Raf Simons, Paul Smith and featured in a Marc by Marc Jacobs campaign.

Andrej even became the face of Dutch underwear brand, Hema, and modelled their “mega push-up bra”.

He has been said to have cheekbones similar to Cindy Crawford’s and a slender body shape with curves in all the right places. Supermodel Kate Moss was even taken back by Andrej and it is reported that when she met him in 2011 she simply whispered, “You’re beautiful.”

Not always considered admirably, Andrej encountered controvery in 2011 for example FHM posted a joke article about him by accident. But in 2012, we want to see more, more, MORE of this beautiful and confident man. Or woman. We will take Andrej however he may choose to represent himself!

Sean O’Pry

Sean has a conventional and handsome look that makes him perfect for all sorts of modelling contracts, he even reminds us gushing girls at modelmanagement.com of an old-fashioned movie star.

In 2011 not only did he model in adverts for Calvin Klein, Versace, Viktor & Rolf, Barney’s Men, as well as Zara, H&M, Gap and Aldo. He appeared in many editorials and magazine covers, as well as walking runway for Versace, Hugo Boss and Michael Kors.

He is one of the best paid male models around, and this is a great achievement for the New Generation supermodel Sean.

Josh Beech

Chiselled and handsome, pierced and tattooed; Josh is our perfect English rose, with a few thorns here and there.

Having become one of the faces for Burberry as his first career achievement as a model, he has also modelled for H&M (2010) and Topman (2008): Josh’s modelling accomplishments are made up of a mixture of different aspects – just like himself!

In 2011 he became a face of John Galliano, posted for Moschino, Richmond by John Richmond, Pull & Bear, Diesel and is best known for being the face of Levi’s 501; a contract for which he was signed 3 consecutive times.

In 2012 we will be seeing Josh featured in Just Cavalli adverts, and a lot more of him on the music scene along with his band Snish… and their pet Pug!

Johannes Linder

Johannes has the boyish charms and good looks that make him perfect for us to keep an eye on in 2012!

He is most famous for his catwalks appearances so far and admits to enjoying this more than editorial. In 2011 he walked the catwalk for Burberry Prorsum, Alexander McQueen, Dries Van Noten, Dior Homme and Ports 1961.

Johannes is a modest guy and still lives in Hamburg, his hometown, the most beautiful city in the world according to him. He knows that he must keep a good balance and still loves skateboarding and his friends from the past.

With cheekbones to die for and a down-to-earth attitude towards his success, we wish Johannes all the best in 2012!

Andres Risso

When we came across Premium model Andres’ modelmanagement.com profile, we couldn’t resist putting him into this blogpost! We think he has a great look and love his bright blue eyes! He definitely gives the other guys a good run for their money!

Want to see more about the some of the world’s current top models? Take a look at our diverse selection of female models here!

The post Now onto the Boys… Our Top 5 Male Models of 2011! appeared first on ModelManagement.com's Blog.

We can barely imagine traveling to an Arabic country without smoking a shisha, drinking amounts of peppermint tea and seeing permissively dressed belly dancers that are performing a Raqs Dance to infatuating Arabesque Music.

While being seduced by the charms of the Orient, we start to ask ourselves about the role of women within the Islamic society. Haven’t we seen all these horrible press releases of public accusations or even executions of women for ostensible immoral behavior? Do these belly dancers act immorally?  Will they be punished?

Almost all Islamic countries have different Laws, different Islamic confraternities and different traditions. We are also talking about more than 1.2 billion people. The questions cannot just be answered in a brief article and we should not forget that this weblog basically deals with one certain group of women: Models. We acknowledge that we don’t know a lot about Muslim models and many news in the West  are biased.

The saddest news reached us in November 2002, when hundreds of people died in street riots between Christians and Muslims related to the Miss World Contest in the city of Abuja in the north of Nigeria. The contest was considered immoral by the local Sharia authorities that were internationally accused some months before for the execution of Armina Lawal Kurami. Isioma Daniel from the Christian newspaper This Day published: ‘What would Muhammad think? From his very direct and controversial response to this statement, radical Muslim youths burnt down the newspaper’s office in Kaduna. Soon after, violence reached different areas of the country and caused more than 250 fatalities, hundreds of injuries and thousands of homeless people.
Last July 32 year old Malaysian model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was sentenced to be caned for drinking beer in public. Some experts say that caning  as a punishment is usually not applied to women. They also insist that men drink alcohol quite openly in public and that Shukarno’s punishment is rather related to the fact that she works occasionally as a model.

It has just been two weeks ago that articles were published about Iran’s president Ahmedinejad’s attempt to ban too curvy mannequins from shop windows. They also have to be covered with a Hijab. Shop owners can be taken to court and sentenced to close their shops if they don’t comply. Though Ahmedinejad himself is not considered as a religious hardliner, he has shown already in June that he is neither interested in turning back from Khomeni’s Islamic Revolution of the late 70’s nor to open up the country after decades of political and economical isolation.

The Koran defines most day-by-day  tasks in a very precise and literal way. Recently, many pragmatic Muslims discussed about the relevance of some of the sura that deal with clothing rules (f.e. sura 24) and the woman’s role in a more moderate and modern Islamic society. While Morocco for example has adapted certain laws related to women’s rights to European standards (free choice of husband, right of divorce), countries like Iran have shortened women’s rights categorically due to Khomeni’s Islamic Revolution.

Societies are changing and it is not surprising that we find threats like this in the Internet: ‘Am I allowed to be a Muslim model?’ Statements of this kind just show us how similar people in the whole world are – regardless of religions and origins. They give us an idea about childhood dreams, of being beautiful, admired and wealthy. On the other hand they show us the ethical conflicts of a whole generation that has grown up between Islamic traditions and Facebook, Hijab and Louis Vuitton, Koran and Video Conference with cousins in London, Paris, New York, Amsterdam or Madrid.

Superstars like Iman or Yasmeen Ghauri have proven that Muslim religion and a profession as a model are not contradictorily. Both Muslim fashion icons have explained in several interviews how their families reacted on the decision to become a model. Yasmeen even explains, how her father’s reputation was harmed by her professional career. Her father, Moin Ghauri is a Pakistani imam based in Quebec.

In 2005, this headline could be seen in the newspapers: ‘First Muslim Miss England crowned’. Hammasa Kohistani fled the Taleban regime and became the first Muslim to represent England in the Miss World beauty contest in China and while uncle Osama accused the western world for its corrupt moral, his niece Wafah Dufour attempted to capitalize on her family name as the sexy-dressed title girl of the GQ Magazine in 2006.

Muslim models really exist – despite of Sharia Laws, family traditions or just despite of our own prejudices against the Arabic world. Some of them are occasional models, some are top models. Some consider themselves Islamic models (which means to wear Koran-conforming clothes), others pose in semi-transparent lingerie.

Our intention is not to judge about occurrences in the Islamic world and we don’t want to chip in on issues that are not ours. There are many experts who regard Islamic extremism as a direct response to decades of foreign intrusion.

We think that all religions shall compete for the good and that the vast majority of all religious people are rooted in inner attitudes like love and compassion and the belief that God wants us to release our full potential and creativity to create a world of peace and happiness.
The example of belly dancer ‘Little Egypt’ shows us how different our own Western society was a century ago. We should not forget how women had to fight for their rights in the industrialized countries during the past decades and we have to ask ourselves if our way of living is as progressive as we might think. The role of women in the Islamic society is also changing and Muslim women rightly engage themselves for their rights and their dignity like in most other societies. Let’s hope that more gorgeous and charismatic women like Iman Abdulmajid, Yasmeen Ghauri, Waris Dirie or Hammasa Kohistani become the Amazons or the ambassadors of a peaceful movement for the empowerment of women in the Muslim world.

The post Models under the Half Moon appeared first on ModelManagement.com's Blog.

Are there any rational reasons for the ideal measurements and the ideal age of a model? Maybe. But does a model have to be anorexic to get the best jobs? No.

To meet the requirements of the international model agencies and the media industry is as difficult as people think it is.

The huge amount of talented aspirants from all over the world makes it difficult to enter into the market. Many models start their career as a teenager. Models need a strong book and need to gain experience on runways and photo shootings. Between fashion shows, editorials and go-sees, there is often no time for personal interests, school and the cosiness of family and friends. To be a part of the fashion circus often also means to decide between youth or job, studies or book, family or agents etc.

As a New Face you need to look excellent, be young, tall and skinny, have a good education, language skills and lots of discipline. These are many requirements at the same time. We keep in mind that we are talking about teenagers who often do not have any other work experience. Whenever people chat about modelling you hear these rumours about big and easy money, travelling and meeting interesting people. In reality, only some dozens of models can be regarded as supermodels and some hundreds can be considered as top models with high salaries, while the vast majority of models have lower and medium incomes.

For those youngsters with an excellent agency, modelling can be an exciting challenge. The model career mostly depends on the efficiency of booking agents with contacts and imagination. Booking agents have to set up a model’s image and prepare their new incorporations for an international career.

Unfortunately, too many young models – mainly girls- are tempted by the world of wealthiness [money], glamour and the jet set. This is a dangerous trap and can lead to a world of depression, drug abuse, nutrition problems or plastic surgery. Fashion icons like Kate Moss show us that anorexia or mental-health problems also concern top players and not only youngsters. At the same time it seems that people need these headlines of celebrities in trouble to be aware of what is happening inside of the society.

In 2006, the decision of the local government of Madrid to ban anorexic models from the runways of the Cibeles Fashion Week, heated up discussions between fashion designers, model agents, event promoters and even politicians. For the first time in history laws were passed to prevent models from anorexia and even the houses Armani, Prada and Versace took the decision to apply stricter rules for the recruitment of models in terms of a minimum body-mass-index (BMI) and a minimum age.

It is difficult to define an ideal of a human being without entering into controversies, therefore we are grateful to contemplate projects like Sara Ziff’s and Ole Schell’s movie ‘Picture Me’, a documentary that was released in April 2009 and that gives interesting insights about fetishism, eating disorders and pays. As an ex-model, Ziff knows what she is talking about and it needs people like her to sensitise our society, but maybe we still need to mourn more victims like Gia Carangi or Ana Carolina Reston – talented young models that died as a result of drug addiction and anorexia.

On the other hand: Who cares about models? If you speak with a random person about the problems of a model, you will receive replies like: “So what? Can’t these chicks just do a job like anybody else?” Or you hear: “What about hundreds of kids that die in Africa each day! Great statements: Does anyone in the industrialized world care about children on the black continent?”

Campaigns like ‘No Anorexia’ by Oliveiro Toscani with the French actress Isabelle Caro bring it to the point: Only if you shock the society, you can change things. Caro is 165cm tall and had a weight of 32kg when Toscani shot her nude for billboards that were published during the fashion fair of Milan in 2007. Judge yourself if you like her look.

It is surprising that UK’s Vogue boss Alexandra Shulman recently complained about too skinny models and a textile industry that comes along with less fabric each season. Regardless of some years without dead models it seems that the public opinion demands more protection and more self-control from model agencies, casting directors and couturiers, the modelling industry reacts. Agencies will not lower their requirements, but more and more agencies are respecting the guidelines, that were defined in Madrid – due to ethical and PR reasons.

At the end it is the consumer who decides if he wants to see gorgeous fashion icons or skeletons on the international runways. My observation is, that the majority of young models live a normal life without depressions, drug or nutrition problems. It is also not fair to criticize the slimness of one group without asking for the sociological reasons of obeseness. We are professionals of the model circus and it is not our job to change the world, but it is our responsibility to inform youngsters about the requirements and potential dangers of the industry.

Modelling can be a fun and well-paid job too. We hope to see lots of great, healthy, happy and successful people on the runways and on high gloss posters, but we are tired of all these negative headlines about the model industry. We want to encourage all those models that meet the requirements of the industry to go on, we want to encourage these young talents to do sport and to work out, but we also recommend them that one’s health and happiness is more valuable than any tear sheets or glam covers. Those models with depressions and diseases, their parents and their bookers should know, that money and fame is not everything in life and that the pressure they apply is harmful and irresponsible.

Größer, schlanker, jünger, wo sind die Grenzen?

Gibt es rationale Gründe für ideale Modelmasse und das ideale Alter eines Models? Bestimmt. Aber muss ein Model magersüchtig sein, um die besten Jobs zu ergattern? Bestimmt nicht.

Die Anforderungen der Modelagenturen und der Medien sind ähnlich groß wie es der Laie erahnt.

Die Anzahl talentierter Modelanwärter aus aller Welt erschwert den Berufseinstieg. Viele der Models beginnen ihre Karriere bereits im Teenageralter. New Faces benötigen ein aussagekräftiges Buch und Erfahrungen auf Laufstegen und Fotoshootings. Zwischen Modenschauen, Editorials und Go-Sees bleibt oft wenig Freiraum für persönliche Interessen, Schule, Familie und Freunde. Am Modezirkus teilzuhaben geht daher nicht selten einher mit der Entscheidung zwischen Jugend oder Job, Weiterbildung oder Buch, Familie oder Agentur etc.

Newcomer müssen exzellent aussehen, müssen jung, groß und schlank sein, über ein gewisses kulturelles Niveau, Sprachkenntnisse und Disziplin verfügen. Das sind viele Anforderungen auf einmal, wenn wir bedenken, dass wir über Teenager sprechen, die vielfach nicht auf vorherige Berufserfahrung zurückblicken können. Wenn über den Modelmarkt geredet wird, treten häufig Gerüchte über schnell und einfach verdientes Geld, Reisen und ein Jet-Set-Dasein im Kreise illustrer und interessanter Leute zu Tage. In Wirklichkeit können nur wenige Dutzend als Supermodels bezeichnet werden, und nur einige Hundert können sich das Prädikat Topmodel auf die Fahne schreiben und entsprechende Honorare erzielen, während die Mehrheit der Darstellerinnen und Darsteller lediglich niedrige bis mittelmäßige Einkommen erzielt.

Für jene Einsteiger mit großartigen Repräsentanten kann modeln eine aufregende und positive Herausforderung sein. Die Karriere eines Models hängt überwiegend von Buchungsagenten mit Kontakten und Weitsicht ab. Die Aufgabe jener Booker ist es, das Image eines Models aufzubauen und seine Aspiranten für eine internationale Karriere vorzubereiten.

Leider sind zu viele junge Models – üblicherweise Mädchen – geblendet durch eine Welt des schnellen Geldes, Prestige und Jet Set, was sich als eine gefährliche Falle erweisen und in Depressionen, Drogenmissbrauch und Ernährungsproblemen ausufern kann. Modeikonen wie Kate Moss zeigen uns, dass Magersucht oder psychologische Störungen auch Top-Profis betreffen können. Auf der anderen Seite scheint es, dass der Leser einer Gazette gerade diese Schlagzeilen von bedeutenden Persönlichkeiten in Schwierigkeiten braucht, um darauf aufmerksam zu werden, was in unserer Gesellschaft vorgeht.

Die Entscheidung der lokalen Regierung von Madrid, magersüchtige Models von den Laufstegen der Modemesse Cibeles 2006 zu verbannen, löste heftige Diskussionen zwischen Designern, Modelagenten, Veranstaltern und sogar Politikern aus. Zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte wurden Gesetze verabschiedet, die Models vor Anorexie schützen sollen und selbst Häuser wie Armani, Prada und Versace sahen sich veranlasst, in Selbstkontrolle den verlautbarten Anforderungen an das Mindestalter und die Körpermassezahl (BMI) eines Models zu entsprechen.

Es ist schwer, ein Schönheitsideal zu definieren ohne sich in Kontroversen zu verstricken. Wir sind daher dankbar über Quellen wie den von Ole Shell und Sara Ziff im April 2009 veröffentlichten Dokumentarfilm ‘Picture Me’. Dieses Werk greift Themen wie Fetischismus, Essstörungen und exorbitante Modelgagen auf. Als Ex-Model weiß Sara wovon sie spricht und sicherlich brauchen wir mehr Persönlichkeiten wie sie, um unsere Gesellschaft zu sensibilisieren, auch wenn Horrormeldungen wie der Aids-Tod des Models Gia Carangi infolge von Drogenmissbrauch oder der Tod durch Magersucht des Armani-Models Ana Carolina Reston vermeintlich eine größere Massenwirkung haben.

Auf der anderen Seite: Wen interessiert schon ein Model? Wer sich mit den Problemen einer Laufstegschönheit beschäftigt erntet gerne Kommentare wie: „Können die Mädchen keine vernünftigen Berufe ausüben?“ Oder: „Und was ist mit den Hunderten von Kindern, die täglich in Afrika verhungern?“ Dabei wissen wir allzu genau, dass in unserer Industriegesellschaft wenige wirklich ernsthaft mit den Hungersnöten auf dem schwarzen Kontinent auseinandersetzen.

Kampagnen wie die Anzeige ‚No Anorexia’ des Fotografen Oliveiro Toscani, auf der die magersüchtige französische Schauspielerin Isabelle zu sehen ist bringen es auf den Punkt: Nur wer schockt, kann etwas bewegen. Caro hat eine Körpergröße von 165cm und wog 32kg als Toscani sie hüllenlos für Poster, die während der Mailänder Modemesse im Jahre 2007 ablichtete. Urteilen Sie selbst, ob Ihnen dieser Look gefällt.

Überraschenderweise beklagte sich erst kürzlich die Chefin der britischen Vogue über zu schlanke Models und über eine Bekleidungsindustrie, die Saison für Saison mit weniger Textil aufwartet. Trotz einiger Jahre ohne verhungerter Models scheint unsere Gesellschaft von den Modelagenturen, Casting-Direktoren und den Modemachern mehr Schutz für Models und mehr Selbstkontrolle zu fordern und scheinbar reagiert auch die Industrie. Es wäre vermessen zu glauben, dass Agenturen komplett von ihren Idealen abkommen, dennoch sind es eben diese ethischen Bedenken und nicht zuletzt PR-Gründe, die Agenturen veranlassen, die in Madrid definierten Richtlinien einzuhalten.

Am Ende entscheidet der Verbraucher ob er großartige Modeikonen oder Skelette auf den internationalen Laufstegen sehen will. Aus eigener Erfahrung behaupte ich, dass die meisten jungen Models ein normales Leben führen, nicht an Depressionen, Drogenmissbrauch oder an Essstörungen leiden. Es wäre auch nicht fair, die Schlankheit der einen zu kritisieren, ohne nach soziokulturellen Gründen für Phänomene wie Fettleibigkeit zu suchen. Als Branchenprofis ist es auch nicht unsere Aufgabe die Welt zu verbessern, aber wir sollten es als unsere Verantwortung sehen, Newcomer hinreichend über die Anforderungen und über potentielle Risiken aufzuklären.

Modelling kann ein interessanter und gut bezahlter Job sein. Wir wünschen uns auch weiterhin schöne, zufriedene und erfolgreiche Amazonen auf Laufstegen und Billboards, aber wir sind all der negativen Schlagzeilen in Verbindung mit der Modelindustrie überdrüssig. Wir wollen alle talentierten Aspiranten ermutigen, Sport zu treiben und sich entsprechend in Form zu bringen, auf der anderen Seite sind wir davon überzeugt, dass die Gesundheit des Einzelnen wichtiger ist als Tear Sheets oder Hochglanzplakate. Allen Models mit Depressionen und psychosomatischen Anfälligkeiten, ihre Eltern und ihre Buchungsagenten sollten sich dessen bewusst sein, dass Geld und Berühmtheit nicht alles im Leben ist und dass der von ihnen angewandte Leistungsdruck unverantwortlich und schädlich sein kann.

The post Taller, Skinnier, Younger, where are the limits? appeared first on ModelManagement.com's Blog.