Meet Fresh Faces

Professional and famous models begin as shy young talents that in time turn into models with a confident and strong attitude to overcome the challenges of entering a very competitive world. Apart of willingly accept the obstacles they have to face most of them wouldn´t have made it to the top without the help of experts teaching them to walk, pose and feel comfortable with themselves. Model Management is one of those professionals shaping models. Fresh Faces is the name of a competition they have created to help young boys and girls being exposed to the modeling industry.

Not Just Fashion Magazine had the pleasure of meeting their team to learn more about the competition and participate behind the scenes of this contest full of expectations and dreams.

We invite you to enter into this world with us.

Tell us about how Fresh Faces was born.

Fresh Faces was launched in 2010 by modeling community modelmanagement.com and it’s now conquering the model world in high speed mode. It’s a global state-of-the-art modeling contest, discovering the freshest model talent from around the world. The contest was the world’s first to combine online voting, social media promotion and live events with a major modelling web community.

What has been the biggest challenge so far when organizing this event?

The final event is only a small part of the Fresh Faces model contest. The competition starts online and runs for many months, which gives new models the chance to apply, gain votes and be seen by the model agencies involved. There are also numerous live casting events which are a fantastic opportunity for new comers to be seen in person by some of the best model agencies in the world.

Our biggest challenge for the final event is making sure all the many elements run smoothly, and that the model finalists each get the experience they deserve.

And the biggest achievement?

Our biggest achievement is taking young inexperienced finalists and turning them into professional models over the course of 3 days. We do this with numerous professional photo shoots, catwalk training, choreography, styling and makeup and a major catwalk show in front of some of the most important people in the model industry.

We are very proud to say that we have achieved this year upon year and the models have gone on to very successful careers in the industry.

What does Fresh Faces look for in a model?

We named the contest Fresh Faces as that’s exactly what it looks for. A fresh look, that doesn’t necessarily comply with the industry standards, but people who have something different. One example of a previous winner would be Sita Abellán, who wasn’t traditionally tall enough to be a catwalk model, but was an incredible new face and has since gone on to make a name for herself and recently starred in a Rihanna music video.

Do participants need to have certain requirements to enter the contest?

There are some requirements, however this can also depend on the sponsoring model agency for a specific country contest and what they are seeking for their market. We are opening up the requirements in our next contest to find many more types of models.

Tell us about the Curvy Edition. Do you think it will be a trend that we will start to see in model aesthetics?

It’s already a big trend and what we love about the curvy contest and the Plus size modeling category in general is that it breaks the mould of what people think models should be. Models are beautiful in all shapes and sizes and in the real world all types of models work very often, which is exactly what the modelmanagement.com community is all about.

Fresh Faces has been helping young talents to enter into the world of modelling & fashion. Do you think there is an opportunity for adults & elderly to be models? Have you thought about it for future contests?

We are always opening our minds to new ideas for expanding Fresh Faces. In the meantime we have a thriving database on modelmanagement.com of all age ranges. There’s a huge demand for real people in advertising young and old, and we have many castings online where our older and senior members can apply. I would really encourage older people to sign up on our site as more and more castings are being posted for major cooporations and brands, who want to use them for their campaigns.

During the competition there are a lot of photographers & coaches for the participant. Has this interaction helped the models to start creating a network in the fashion industry?

Each Fresh Faces finals has been a hubspot for modeling activitya and networking. Many exciting collaborations have come from the contest, especially between the models and photographers, model agencies and fashion designers. The Fresh Faces contest is a social media force to be reckoned with and all involved continue to collaborate and then share the results of their work online after the contest. It has an incredible energy and we love it!

After the competition, do most of the participant continue a career in modeling? Have they been called for big projects?

Yes, many of the finalists go on to successfull careers with top agencies and have been on the cover of ELLE magazine, shot by Karl Lagerfeld, have walked all the major catwalks of the world’s fashion capitals, featured in Vogue, have worked for campaigns for Prada, Armani, Gucci, American Crew, Loewe and the list goes on.

What are the best tips you give to new talents?

No matter what anyone else thinks, if you want to model you should do it. There’s a place for everyone who has the confidence to try and the old traditions of modeling left the building a long time ago. It’s a new age and models are bolder and more interesting than they have ever been and the boundaries are being broken on a daily basis. Get yourself signed up on modelmanagement.com and apply to every castings you can. Then make connections with the amazing industry people who are already there and do TFP shoots to get cool photos that will lead to bigger projects. This is where it all starts and where it leads is up to you.