There
Image courtesy of Netflix
is so much that can be said about the competition reality show “America’s Next Top Model,” (ANTM) and much has been discussed in detail in the new Netflix documentary “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.” Though some of the discussion in the highly rated documentary is negative.
Fashion Reverie has a special relationship with the hit television reality show because we know some of the judges from ANTM and have photographed several former contestants in editorial shoots. Though there has been a plethora of podcasts on the Netflix documentary, most of the podcasts are told from the perspective of lifestyle, pop culture, and entertainment experts, few from the perspective of fashion industry professionals.
Image courtesy of amazon.com
“America’s Next Model” premiered in 2003, and the reality competition show very quickly became a huge success, later becoming a global phenomenon in 180 countries with franchises in many countries, accumulating huge revenue from licensing deals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, with people experiencing limited in-person interactions, there was a lot of binge-watching of ANTM.
The re-examination of ANTM caused viewers to deeply question the relevancy and authenticity of ANTM. ANTM, in retrospect 20-plus years after its debut had some cultural, social, and racial challenges. Granted some of the standout problematic moments were created during a time where there was little focus on racial microaggressions, body shaming, and bullying, still, ANTM episodes remain problematic.
One of the most distressing and obvious elements of ANTM was the fact that ANTM was not an honest reflection of the fashion industry, but reality television. And as entertaining as the show was, very few of the contestants on ANTM went on to become top models, as the name implies. Winnie Harlow is one of the most successful contestants from ANTM, continuing to be featured in fashion editorials, campaigns, and walking the runways of top fashion designers/brands. Other successful ANTM contestants have mostly found fame on television and in films, namely Yaya Dacosta, Eva Marcille, Saleisha Stowers, and Analeigh Tipton.
Image courtesy of charlesandhudson.com, reddit.com, and youtube.com, respectively
A former ANTM judge explained to Fashion Reverie that the reality show was about 15% to 20% fashion, the rest was entertaining television. And because ANTM was reality television, the fashion industry did not take the contestants seriously as fashion models. Model contestants had difficulty getting model management representation after ANTM. Model Management agencies saw the ANTM contestants as reality television celebrities, not fashion models. (It was if the former contestants had a bright red ‘scarlet A’ around their necks.) To get work many former ANTM contestants had to change their names, hairstyles, and the color of their hair and get work in countries outside of the US.
Teyona Anderson, winner of Cycle 9, had to go to South Africa to get work. In a YouTube video, ANTM Cycle 6 runner up Joanie Dodds detailed her model journey after her appearance on ANTM. Strangely, she revealed that after Cycle 6 had taped, she was flown back to her hometown and was told not to take a regular job or go after modeling jobs until Cycle 6 premiered to protect any information that could come out about her particular cycle. She had to take an after-hours job cleaning offices until Cycle 6 premiered.
Dodds also detailed that after she moved to Los Angeles and signed with a major model management company, she was not able to secure any significant modeling work, only walking in Los Angeles Fashion Week for very little money ($200 a show) or no pay. Finally, she asked her agent to secure work for her in other countries. She began to book jobs in Hong Kong, where no one cared about her being a contestant on ANTM. Dodds made more money in Hong Kong in one month than she made in Los Angeles modeling, bartending, and in retail jobs.
In the Netflix documentary ANTM Cycle 6 winner Danielle Evans revealed that after her win she was unable to secure significant work in New York City. While living in the Ford Models’ house, every day she witnessed her fellow models going on go-sees, booking jobs, while the phone did not ring for her. A fellow housemate, top model Chanel Iman, finally asked her agent at Ford Models why Evans was not getting castings. Iman was informed that fashion designers/brands saw Evans as reality TV personality, not a fashion model. (Eventually, Evans did book jobs. Fashion Reverie saw her walking for Betsey Johnson during NYFW at Lincoln Center.) Still, Evans contends that Tyra Banks knew this was happening and did nothing to help former contestants with castings or bookings. In the documentary Evans feels her career was blighted by her association with ANTM. (Fashion Reverie discovered several years ago that a list was passed around in the fashion industry every ANTM cycle with the current ANTM contestants names and photos. Designers/brands were instructed not to hire ANTM contestants on the list.)
Remember, at that time in the early 2000s, until 10 years ago, reality television was seen as a last-ditch attempt to revive a lagging acting career or a desperate attempt to break into television and film, not a way to launch a career in fashion. ANTM Cycle 14 winner Krista White reveals that many of the former ANTM contestants worked very hard, pounding the pavement to achieve their goals with no assistance at all from Banks or the ANTM crew.
Image courtesy of buzzfeed.com
And then there is the controversy over the bizarre and insane photoshoots on ANTM. While some of the photoshoots were entertaining and thought-provoking, most of the images were unusable in a model’s portfolio. (Shooting models in couture gowns in a garbage dump. Really Tyra!!)
Your portfolio, or book as it is called in the fashion industry, is your selling ticket to major castings and bookings. Without a good portfolio your career goes nowhere, even if you are signed to a major model management agency. Post-ANTM models had to scuffle to get fashion photographers to shoot test shots for their books. These test shots came out of their own pockets, or the model management agency created the test shots for the models and billed them later with interest. Fashion photographers for test shoots can cost over $500 and that does not include make-up and hair.
Images courtesy of teenvogue.com, realitybitesgames.com, and pinterest.com, respectively
In the end some former contestants did have successful fashion careers, with most of that success happening abroad where casting directors and fashion brands did not view the models as only reality TV fodder. ANTM Cycle 10 plus-size model Whitney Thompson had a thriving modeling career in Europe and Asia, coming back to the States years after her ANTM win. ANTM Cycle 19 contestant Leila Goldkuhl found success mostly in Europe, walking for Alexander McQueen, Alexandre Vauthier, Alberta Ferretti, Balmain, Chanel, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Elie Saab, Emanuel Ungaro, Emilio Pucci, Lanvin, Isabel Marant, Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Giambattista Valli, Marc Jacobs, Moschino, Nina Ricci, Oscar de la Renta, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Salvatore Ferragamo, Shiatzy Chen, Valentino, Vera Wang, Versace and Zuhair Murad. And ANTM Cycle 6 contestant Molly Sue Steenis-Gondi became a very established model in Europe and Asia with covers for Vogue Russia, Vogue Italia, Vogue Nippon, Madame Germany, Madame Figaro, and others.
So, now you may wonder what was good about ANTM? Well, it was very entertaining television, and the longevity and ratings proved that. Also, it did expose the public to some small aspects of the fashion industry, thus increasing the visibility of the fashion industry. Still, does the good outweigh the bad? Hmm, let the gods decide that!!
William S. Gooch
Speak Your Mind