How to become a model: a step-by-step plan for beginners

To become a model you need three things: understand your type and market segment, shoot digitals to agency standard, and send them to the right agencies. You don't need a modeling school, an expensive photoshoot or prior experience — an agency decides in seconds based on your digitals, measurements and how you look unretouched.

This is the path I take students through in MODELS DEGREE. It works whether you have zero experience or you've already done shoots but never got signed.

Where do you start with no experience?

Start with understanding the industry, not with a photoshoot. Most beginners lose their first year the same way: paying for a "modeling school", shooting with random photographers "for the portfolio", then emailing agencies without digitals. No reply — and they decide modeling isn't for them.

Modeling is a system: agencies, clients, castings, contracts and clear rules agencies use to decide whether to sign you. Once you know those rules, your odds change dramatically.

What's your type and segment?

Be honest about which segment you'll work in:

• Fashion — runway, editorial, image campaigns. Strict height and measurement requirements.
• Commercial — advertising, e-commerce, beauty, lifestyle, brand content. Softer requirements, and often more work and money.
• Influence — where your look works together with your own audience.

Your type isn't "pretty or not". It's which clients and shoots fit you — and it decides what goes in your portfolio and which agencies to approach.

What are the height requirements for models?

Typical fashion benchmarks: women from about 175 cm (5'9"), men from about 185 cm (6'1"). Women at 170–174 cm and men at 180–184 cm are borderline: fashion is possible, especially in Asia and editorial, and commercial is fully open.

Below that, it's a different path, not a dead end. Commercial clients care more about skin, look, smile, presence on camera and reliability.

What are model digitals and how do you shoot them?

Digitals (polaroids) are a model's most important document: simple, unretouched photos that show agencies the real you.

1. Soft daylight, plain light background.
2. No makeup or very minimal; hair neat.
3. Simple fitted clothes in plain colors — a basic tee and jeans, plus swimwear or plain underwear for body shots.
4. Shots: headshot front, profile, three-quarter; full length front, side and back.
5. No filters, no dramatic poses or angles.

You can shoot them on a phone with a friend. You don't need to pay a photographer.

How do you choose an agency and avoid scams?

Judge an agency by its models' work, not its name: which clients they shoot for, whether they go on contracts abroad, whether the agency has partners in other markets.

Red flags:

• they ask for money to "add you to the board" or sign you;
• signing requires paid "training" or a shoot with their photographer;
• they can't show where their models work.

A real agency earns a commission on your bookings, not money from you. It also helps to understand what a mother agency is — the agency that discovers you and places you with partner agencies abroad.

What do you send to an agency?

A short email: name, age, height and measurements, city, 4–6 digitals attached or linked, and your Instagram if it looks professional. Skip the long backstory — agencies look at the photos, not the text.

Your first month, in short

1. Learn how the industry works and pick your segment.
2. Shoot digitals using the checklist above.
3. Make a list of agencies that fit your type.
4. Send your emails while you work on your portfolio.
5. Prepare for castings: how to behave, what to bring, how to move on camera.