Russia's Modeling Factory

It’s no lie that Russia produces some of the greatest models. They emulate what a European model should look like.They have those high cheekbones and that smolder that many fashion houses covet. Natalia Vodianova and Natasha Poly are seen as some of the greatest models of our time and they both originated from Russia. With Russia being the top country that produces the most models, there must be a catch right?

Well, Russia modeling agency is known for their underage modeling. There are no laws in Russia that prohibit underage girls to model and that's where many Russian modeling agencies take advantage of these aspiring models. Some as young as 12 years old start going to model castings and book photoshoots. 

These young girls are infatuated by these dreams of traveling the world while taking pictures for Vogue as the modeling agencies would say, but that is far from the reality.

Some of these young and naive girls are thrown into prostitution due to the “debts” that they have to pay off. These girls incur debts because if the amount they owe to their agency is greater than the profit of a photo shoot then there are in “debt.” What happens is that when their “modeling agent” takes away their passport and tells them that they have to work to pay off their “debts” to the modeling agency. Instead of being high fashion models as they were promised, they are turned into prostitutes. This is manipulation and brainwashing at its finest.

Now, why are these young Russian girls so entranced by the glitz and glamor that the modeling industry seems like it shows?

We all know that Russia is not very economically and financially strong ever since the fall of the Cold War and it shows in its citizens. Many Russians choose to work abroad because the opportunities are just not there. Doctors even make $520 a month while working in Russia and that couldn’t even support one person let alone a family of four. So if a model can make $20,000 (or so they say) on a photo shoot It just makes sense why these young girls are mesmerized by the modeling world and all that it offers.

The lack of opportunity in their home country drives these girls into the world of modeling.

If these girls have the opportunity to help support their family by doing what they love then why not go for it?

You can have the body, the face, and the practice your walk countless times, but you have to stand out from the rest. The modeling industry in Russia is so saturated that it's hard for these young girls to actually book shoots and even be welcomed into a modeling agency.

I watched a documentary called “Teen Model Factory” and some of the things that they said really shocked me. The host first began his journey on a model casting for one of the top agencies called “Noah Models” in Russia that sends models to Asia, Europe, and America. Over 100 girls ages 13+ up showed up and only 10-15 girls would get picked to the agency.

Another modeling agency in Russia called “Elite Stars” modeling agency has over 5,000 models in their agency and only 70 of them are working abroad.

Lets do some math here:

70 (models working abroad)

5,000 (models in their agency)

= 1.4% of models in this agency are working

That is a crazy number. This not only shows that these models are barely booking any shows, the market is too saturated for not just any model with a good body and a face can book a shoot and yet these “scouts” are constantly pushing the model lifestyle in these girls heads. 

These young girls are so naive and so impressionable that anything that the "scout" or their "modeling agent" will say, they will comply with because it's their dream and they've worked hard to achieve this dream. And that's the scary part.

Sources:

Picture - NPR

Documentary- BBC Three/Netflix

The World of Modelling and Russian Models