“She’s too big”, “she’s too short”, “I don’t like her nose”, “she’s got too much breast”; “she doesn’t fit in the clothes”, “her hair is too short”; the list could go on and on. How many times have we been to a casting, queuing for hours, competing with dozens if not hundreds of other girls, waiting our turn only to hear “NEXT” a mere one minute later, and failing to get the job.

Modelling involves having to deal with rejection every day, even at the highest level, because it requires girls to attend as many as ten castings or more a day, every single day, in order to get a job that only lasts a very short period until the process begins all over again.

A casting is often more abrasive than a typical interview since the latter normally consists of a bilateral exchange where both the interviewer and the interviewee are evaluating each other, whereas castings are typically one way traffic: you stand there, they look at you, they scan through your portfolio and that’s it. Next. Interviews, like castings, can surely be stressful; but having literally thousands of castings throughout a career takes it to another level: in modelling girls go through this exhausting, intrusive and continuous process feeling constantly judged, valued and compared. Some might say it’s not dissimilar to the experience of a door to door salesman but the major difference for a model is the fact it is not a vacuum cleaner or a brand of toothpaste which may be getting rejected, but it’s her own self. This is one of the reasons which explains why model girls often end up with such low levels of self esteem: they feel rejected as human beings, they feel unworthy unless they get the job, and even then when castings begin on the day after, they face rejection again, inevitably leading to vulnerability, and just like a wounded animal, they become easy pray.

This dynamic often triggers the model’s need for wanting to change herself in order to please the industry demands, falling into a trap which doesn’t help her career, since she can end up losing her unique beauty and identity. The very look which got the model this far can begin to be bitterly questioned by the girl herself, who may end up focusing only on the aspects of her look which she perceives as wrong, since they appear not to be compatible with the current market needs. She may end up feeling ugly or full of defects, distorting the perception of her body image and losing appreciation of her own natural beauty, favouring in its place the air brushed myth. She may begin to dislike herself, or even go as far as hating herself for not having that nose, those lips, those breasts or those hips, risking embarking on a journey toward the plastic surgeon’s scalpel and extreme methods of weight control.

• Whilst this all sounds rather heavy and it’s obvious there are clearly many challenges, there are ways to avoid the traps. Here are some tips on how better to cope with rejection
• Awareness is the very first step, so acknowledge the above dynamics and simply reflect on them;
• Allow yourself to feel your feelings when rejected. Painful feelings won’t kill you, they just sometimes feel that way. Observing feelings
  helps transform them;
• Don’t take failure personally. Interact with people as if you believe they like you and make this a habit. This will help you to take
  things less personally;
• Always put rejection into perspective remembering it’s impossible to be the way everybody else wants us to be;
• Forget wanting to please the industry. Just be proud of the way you naturally are: ultimately the successful models are powerful girls,
  proud of looking exactly the way they do who impose their look through the charisma of personality and the drive for success;
• Make sure you are surrounded by a healthy and strong environment full of valuable friends and loved ones who can help you step back into
  reality, understanding the fashion industry is just a business with its own peculiarities;
• Don’t give up your uniqueness: think of Kate Moss, the “imperfect” girl next door who became a super model;
• Meditate to help get in touch with your true inner self;
• Ideally hire a coach or counsellor who specialises in this industry who can support you;
• Breathe!

Good luck

Adriana

Big massive S.O.R.R.Y for being such slackers but we’re currently in the midst of London Fashion Week (we are so jealous of all you New Yorkers who are just about to start to relax again:-) )

There are soo many things we want to share with you, but we’ll have to wait a few days – for now, we’d like to share with you, Lara Mullen, one of Premier’s Finest so to speak, who is killing it over in New York by the way, is currently gazing at us from the cover of one of our favourite magazines, Dazed & Confused!!! Shot by Ben Toms, we love love love it!!! Also, not less impressive, Lara has been interviewed for WWW…. like we said… Killing.It!! xxx

As Fashion Week is fast approaching, Vogue turned to Fashion’s Finest, to get their tips and tricks to staying “en vogue” (and glowing) in this most stressful of weeks… et voila, some of the Premierettes have gladly come to the rescue! Check out what Tallulah Harlech, Lara Mullen, Portia Freeman, Naomi Preizler, Francesca Versace, Mary Charteris, Morwenna and Miz Blog Kroell had to say here.

xxx

Dearly beloved, can you feel it? We certainly can, not only do we shiver due to some crazy cosmic freeze, but because it’s Fashion Week Time soon… New York is first up, we can’t wait!! But for today, let’s hear it for Premier’s Boyssss…

Dmitriy does Diesel

Diesel has just released their Spring Summer 2012 campaign and damn it is hot! Shot by dynamic duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott the sexy and sultry Dmitriy Tanner is now in a series of fierce shots for this super cool campaign. Who wouldn’t love a piece of this angel?

Guess?

How hot can one campaign be? Sizzling is the answer to this question. We were just treated to these amazing new shot of hot Portuguese Gonacolo Teixeira . Shot by the noted fashion photographer Ralf Pulmanns, Guess? Have gone back to their roots for a colourful yet classic new style for their SS 2012 Accessories Campaign.  We will buy anything he sells if our partners look as good as he does!

“When she’s not striding down the catwalk, the model Naomi Preizler is often to be found backstage, sketching her world in all its extraordinary glory.” Read the whole story here.

xxx

Mary, Mary, quite contrary how does your garden grow?…..or so the children’s nursery rhyme goes….Our latest addition to the Premier Special Bookings board,  Mary Charteris does not fancy herself as much of a gardener….She is however, an avid shoe collector counting the likes of Missoni, Gianvito Rossi, Nicholas Kirkwood, Louboutin and Giuseppe Zanotti as some of the prized pieces in her collection.  For your Mary Charteris fix tune into her blog, Talking Faithful- a scrap book of inspirational images and fashion musings;

http://www.talkingfaithful.blogspot.com

We are pleased to announce that Premier Men are now representing “super” Ollie Edwards. Ollie has graced the pages of everything from Vogue Italia, V Man, Hercules, i-D to name but a few and has featured in campaigns Ralph Lauren, Armani, Bally, Trussardi, Dunhill – the list just keeps going! Oh and let’s not forget the fragrance campaigns that you will be sure to see him in. We are beyond excited by this beauty and cannot wait to see what more is to come.

Welcome Mr. Edwards!

We are practically obsessed with the artist Neil Hardy’s Automata and have been since we first discovered his “Carnivorous Sheep” in 1996! Since that time there have been a few additions to his family of “Fabulous Animals” check out his entire collection at the link below.

http://www.fabulousanimals.com/

Brrrr. As the whole of Europe is in the hands of Mr Freeze, we’re upping the heat with this Premier News Roundup!!
xx Keep Warm!! xx

Primo Baker rocking Caseley-Hayford in Pop Magazine 

Lara Mullen on a secret set somewhere in France looking stuhunning!

Aunty Carole White doing what she does best – judging beauty whilst having fun – for Heat Magazine’s 101 Hottest Hunks! Winner: David Beckham!
And just below we have a feature on our Grande Dame in British Airways’s BUSINESS LIFE magazine.

And as the lady is pretty much flying from meeting to interview to conference call, she’s only got the best of the best nail technicians popping into Premier to get the perfect Shellac Manicure… and look at how gorgeous they look?! Many thanks to the wonderful David Barton – they look biutiful!