What Happened to "Real" Models?

The Los Angeles-based label, Rodarte, opted out of New York Fashion Week this year and, instead, debuted its Fall 2018 runway collection as a lookbook featuring female singers, directors, actors—celebrities—including Kirsten Dunst, Rowan Blanchard, Gia Coppola, Ava Phillippe, Tessa Thompson, Chloe x Halle, Grimes, Miranda July and Kim Gordon.

Rodarte designers Laura and Kate Mulleavy said, "We are thrilled to feature women who inspire us in our fall winter 2018 portrait series.”

But under the portraits posted on Instagram were comments holding views that both commended and dissed the unorthodox decision to use celebrities as models. One instagrammer said, “I want to see real models.”

“Real models?”

Not only has nepotism recently trickled into the modeling industry with people like Bella and Gigi Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Cara Delevingne, Hailey Baldwin and Kendall Jenner descending from former supermodels or celebrity parents, but major fashion brands, like YEEZY, Dolce & Gabbana and Rodarte, have recently selected well-known public figures, like Paris Hilton and Zendaya, to star in their campaigns over enigmatic muses chosen for their unique features that qualify them as walking art.

So...what ever happened to “real” models?

Social media.

While some want to see “real” models, others want to see “normal” people. By that, they mean  they want to see relatable people in magazines and campaigns. And while others want to see “normal” people, fashion companies want to make money, and it is easy to do that when their models have millions of followers on social media.

These days, not only are celebrity models walking art, but they are walking billboards.