Media RoomThe Star | 9 April 2008
Beyond the runwaysby: Ian Lee
ONLINE reality show Malaysian Dreamgirl is a perfect example of what modern media has turned the modelling industry in Malaysia into.
Since America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) took off, young girls the world over have started to dream that they too someday could be living the glamorous life of a supermodel, while the media realised how potentially popular and lucrative such reality shows can be.
Hence, a new wave of modelling competitions had been spawned on television – the Next Top Model franchise has already spread to such countries as Afghanistan, Aruba, Germany, Ghana, Thailand and Turkey. Other shows such as The Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency and Model Life with Petra Nemcova are also well received.
Sure, networks are able to cash in on this phenomenally successful formula (ANTM is already in its ninth season), but models are also using these opportunities to edge themselves into the industry.
Girls seem to have been given a shortcut into the world of modelling now that reality shows and other similar competitions are thrown into the equation, much like how singers are given a chance to shine on the Idol franchise.
Some contestants in Dreamgirl, for example, had absolutely no experience in modelling before signing up for the show. But because of the exposure they have now received, many of them look set to be going full-time into the modelling industry, whether they win the competition or not.
Nurul Nadia S. Johary was just another college student when she found the advertisement for Dreamgirl in the newspapers, and the only modelling experience she had was helping out fashion design students in her college model their work. She was even scared her friends would make fun of her if she signed up.
“I did do some catwalk work when I was in college, but that was just as a favour to some fellow students. This is my first time in a competition like this, and it’s humbling because I just learned that everything I did (on the catwalk) was wrong!” she said, laughing.
The 20-year-old interior architecture student had previously explored the old-fashioned way of getting into modelling, and was even approached by talent scouts several times, but didn’t manage to get very far.
“My mother was pretty apprehensive about stuff like that, and she wouldn’t allow me to go for those job offers. So I had to work to earn some money for my portfolio, but that never got anywhere. With Dreamgirl, though, my mother was completely supportive because it seemed less risky (being a big production),” she added.
Hanis Zalikha Zainal Rashid, 18, was working as a store attendant at a Marc Jacobs when her mother found a newspaper advertisement for the Dreamgirl competition, and insisted her daughter give it a try.
“My mum was like, ‘You go for it, you can do it. I’m sure you’ll make it.’ Even my dad agreed and told me it would be a good experience, so here I am now!” said the bubbly secondary-school leaver, who still has her braces on.
“This is a completely new experience for me. It’s the first time I’ve ever done any of this (modelling), and it’s been fantastic. I’ve learned so much, been pampered a lot and I’ve met lots of professionals in the industry. It’s a pretty good start, don’t you think?” she said.
Of course, not all the participants are amateurs. However, experience has it setbacks as well, according to 25-year-old contestant Aberami Jaishana Loganathan, or Jay.
“Because I’m the oldest contestant left and I had been on the local version of Project Runway, the judges keep saying ‘you should know, because you’re the most experienced’ and things like that.” she said.
Project Runway is another reality series, one seeking to uncover fashion design talents. Each designer will be given a model to work with, and Jay’s designer was the eventual winner, which got her several more runway gigs when the show ended, as well as a cover shot on Female magazine.
“Actually, I was overweight when I went for their auditions and got rejected because of that! Thankfully, someone pulled out, and by then I had lost some weight,” she recalled.
Sticking to conventions
While a show like Dreamgirls is bound to raise the profiles of these aspiring models, there are others who are out there trying to get their break the old-fashion way – and it’s no easy task.
Sin Hui Jing, 19, is an aspiring singer who has been modelling for two years as a “part-time freelancer” faces the harsh realities of the modelling industry all the time.
The full-time student continues to struggle for a place within the industry the conventional way – signing up with several small agencies, slowly building up her portfolio, taking part in small competitions, and regularly taking odd jobs like being a promoter or “product ambassador” on the weekends when she’s not studying.
“There’re just so many girls with these agents that the competition can be quite fierce. But basically, all we can do is submit our portfolios and let the agents decide whether we’re right for the jobs. After that, the agent won’t be able to help much, because it’ll be up to the client to decide whether to use us.
“But it’s harder these days, because they’re so many girls fighting for jobs, and they’re getting younger and younger,” she said.
Hui Jing also knows of others who are “full-time freelancers” – girls who take freelance jobs from agents almost every day. She also says that these jobs usually pay more than normal office jobs, but there are also downsides to careers like this.
“It’s hard because you just have to sit and hope that jobs come along. You won’t be getting jobs all the time. Plus some agents don’t keep their promises, and I was only paid half of what I was promised once. And honestly, you’ll never last forever in this job. You’ll get bored of it someday and want a normal job, because modelling is basically for the fun and experience,” she added.
Former model Cilla Foong’s work with various agencies as a modelling guru throughout the years has produced New York-based international supermodel Ling Tan, as well as Malaysian models like Bernie Chan, Hanna Toolseram, Tengku Azura, Kavita Sidhu and Soraya Dean; and she believes that the market for models has changed because many smaller agencies have cropped up.
Real vs reel
However, even Cilla couldn’t escape the reality TV bug, saying she is a fan of Tyra Banks’ America’s Next Top Model because of the high standards of the show – from Banks’ experience as a supermodel to the sponsors and challenges; and she believes aspiring models can learn a lot from the show.
“I hope that someday we’ll have a modelling reality show in Malaysia with similar standards, as this will provide very good opportunities for the contestants,” she added.
Local model/actress Elaine Daly is also a product of the older school of modelling, having been discovered in a shopping centre at the age of 14. She is one of the judges on Dreamgirl and agrees with Cilla on the effect of reality shows on the industry.
“I think there are easier platforms now with reality shows like Dreamgirl. You can make it by just doing one show. Even if you lose the competition, people will already know about you.
“It’s definitely easier than literally knocking on doors and trying out agencies one by one to see who would take them. The problem with that is they’d be just one in many girls,” the former Miss Malaysia/Universe said.
According to Elaine, the market now is so different because girls out there will all claim to having modelling experience; when many of them don’t even know how to model properly.
Cilla feels that this increase in model wannabes is due to the changing perception people have towards the industry, as modelling is now a lucrative profession, and many models are highly educated.
“I think it’s easier to be a model now. The industry has grown so everything is taken care of for the model, from top to toe. They just need to turn up for the shoot. Times have changed for the better.
“But sometimes the models take it for granted. I think old school training is still a lot better because it is more thorough. Many models these days walk badly and can’t carry their outfits well. Good agencies can equip models with proper training and protect them from being exploited too,” added Cilla.
At the end of the day though, no matter what trends come and go, modelling is one of those talents that you just have to be born with.
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