Fashion Model Job Description

The job of a fashion model may be glamorous at times, but it also requires commitment and hard work.

In order to display and promote fashion collections in the best light, fashion models are employed to visually enhance such items. The job of a fashion model may include a variety of tasks, such as displaying the latest fashion designs by strutting down a runway, posing for a fashion magazine's editorial spreads or showcasing a fashion company's latest work through ad campaigns and catalogs.

The Career of a Fashion Model

When most people hear the words "fashion model," the usual thoughts that come to mind are glamor, extreme beauty and a jet-setting, luxurious lifestyle. However, the job of a fashion model is demanding, varied, sometimes stressful and not as frivolous as you may think. Fashion modeling work includes skillfully promoting clothes and accessories to fashion buyers for major department stores, the media crowd (fashion editors and publicists) and fashion consumers on a consistent, professional basis. Fashion models can be seen working in different fields, which include photographic, runway, editorial, television, advertorial and catalog modeling. Also, a fashion model's career is not your typical nine-to-five job, and the hours you would be expected to work may be long and arduous.

Female Fashion Model Body Types

Although fashion companies may require varied sizes when employing a fashion model, the standard measurement within the fashion industry tends to follow the British Association of Model Agents' (AMA) recommended body type. As of 2010, the AMA states fashion models should possess body measurements that are around 34-24-34 inches and have a height of at least five feet, eight inches tall.

Male Fashion Model Body Types

The recommended body dimensions for a male fashion model are a waist that is between 26 and 33 inches, a chest measurement between 32 and 40 inches and a height of at least five feet, 11 inches.

Necessary Traits of a Fashion Model

Fashion modeling is a career that does not require any specific degree or credential, yet does entail a certain level of skill, such as good walking posture, a strong sense of style, great facial projection, fair knowledge on makeup applications and above all, a solid work ethic.

Other essentials include your personal modeling book, which showcases professional photos of you in different poses and fashion looks. This book is a critical component when meeting with clients so they can have a good idea of how you look on camera, and how you'll possibly look wearing the client's products. Hiring a dependable and experienced modeling agent can also help you book potentially lucrative modeling jobs.

Also, to forge a successful career in this field, you must be flexible in your work schedule, hardworking, capable of taking direction well and extremely reliable to ensure you'll have consistent requests for you coming in from future clients.

Salary

Salary rates are usually dependent on the type of modeling project and your experience in the profession, as well as your popularity as a model within the fashion industry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as of May 2010, the median annual wage of a fashion model is $25,000. However, compensation varies depending on the pay cycle frequency (per project, hour or day).

References

• Education-Portal.com: Fashion Model Job Description and Information on Becoming a Fashion Model
• Fashion-Schools.org: Fashion Runway Model
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Association of Model Agents: Getting Started as a Model

Resources

• Fashion.net: How to Become a Fashion Model
• Modelinia.com: All Models, All the Time