In today’s modelling world, lithe limbs and sharp cheekbones are not enough. A stellar career requires not only a good face, but also followers — preferably hundreds of thousands across various social media channels. This is the age of the Instagram-model.
在如今的模特界，肢体轻盈与颧骨高耸已经不够。名模不但需要漂亮的脸蛋，还得粉丝如云————尤以在各大社交媒体上拥有几十万拥趸者为佳。如今这是模特在社交平台Instagram上搏粉丝的时代。
The campaign for Calvin Klein, the company that built Kate Moss’s career, turning an unknown teenager from Croydon into a global icon back in 1992, is currently fronted by Kendall Jenner, who has 27m Instagram followers and is better known for being part of the Kardashian reality TV dynasty than for signing with Elite model agency. Cara Delevingne, one of Britain’s most booked faces, has 13m; and not one of the newly signed Victoria’s Secret “Angels” (one of the most lucrative contracts in modelling) has fewer than 60,000. Last September, American Vogue paid tribute to the social media might of these models by dubbing Delevingne, Karlie Kloss (2.4m followers) and Joan Smalls (982,000 followers) the “Instagirls” on its cover.
时尚品牌卡尔文•克莱恩(Calvin Klein)现在的广告代言者是肯达尔•詹娜(Kendall Jenner)，詹娜在Instagram拥有2700万粉丝，让她知名度更大的是出演真人秀节目Keeping Up with the Kardashians，而不是与Elite模特公司签约。卡尔文•克莱恩曾奠定了名模凯特•莫斯(Kate Moss)的江湖地位——1992年，它把莫斯从克罗伊登(Croydon)名不见经传的一名中学生打造成了全球知名的时尚偶像。卡拉•迪瓦伊(Cara Delevingne)是Instagram上最为炙手可热的英国超模，拥有1300万粉丝。内衣品牌维多利亚的秘密(Victoria's Secret)新签约的每名模特（代言费在模特界数一数二），在Instagram上的粉丝数也都多于60万。去年九月的美版《Vogue》封面，把迪瓦伊、卡莉•克劳斯（Karlie Kloss，拥有240万Instagram粉丝）及琼•斯莫斯（Joan Smalls，拥有98.2万Instagram粉丝）等名模誉为“Instagirls”，充分肯定了这些名模在社交媒体的超凡影响力。
Instagram has turned models into active “brand ambassadors”, employed not only to front the campaigns, but to announce, share and promote them on their personal channels. Model agencies are setting up whole divisions to handle the growing demand.
Instagram把名模打造成了活生生的“品牌宣传大使”，不但聘请她们担任广告代言人，而且邀请其私人网络平台上发布通知、分享以及推销自己。模特公司为此设立了分部门，以应对日新月异的发展需求。
Sarah Doukas, founder of Storm Model Management, which looks after some of the industry’s top Instagram talent, says: “We have monetised it. If Cara [Delevingne] does a big campaign, you quote for her to model and then you quote separately for the fact that she has 13m followers.” Simon Chambers, Doukas’s brother, who runs the agency with her, agrees, explaining that the emphasis on personal social media reach has grown rapidly over the past 18 months. “This is a media space that belongs to that person — it’s an asset and if a brand wants access to that, then they have to treat it like buying media. The cost grows as the girl’s following grows.”
Storm Model Management模特经纪公司负责打理Instagram粉丝数首屈一指的超模的事务，公司创始人莎拉•杜卡斯(Sarah Doukas)说：“我们会根据模特的影响力进行标价。卡拉•迪瓦伊承接代言广告时，其模特代言费是一个价钱，此外她在社交网站拥有1300万粉丝数还得单独计费。”与姐姐杜卡斯一起经营公司的弟弟西蒙•钱伯斯(Simon Chambers)也赞同上述说法，他说过去18个月，名模个人在社交媒体的影响力越发受到重视。“这是属于名模的社交媒体空间——它也是个人资产，如果时尚品牌希望从中分一杯羹，那么就得另外掏钱‘购买’媒体影响力。随着模特粉丝数递增，相关费用也随之水涨船高。”