Agency Division Launches to Position Models as Content Creators

It’s no longer enough to be a pretty face; now, models also have to be social media savvy.

Which has led The Industry Model Management, a boutique agency in Los Angeles and New York City, to launch a new division called The Industry Creators.

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“It’s the new ad space,” said Erin Lucus, managing partner of The Industry Model Management, of the significance of social media to her clients’ career trajectories. “The shift I’ve seen is that the budget allocations within every fashion or beauty brand you could possibly think of are being allocated more and more on the social media side, and it’s not just to branded social media, it’s also to paid social media.”

The agency — part of Federico Pignatelli della Leonessa’s Art & Fashion Group Company, which includes Pier59 Studios — represents names including Angelina Kendall, Hejia Li, Victoria Fawole and Nyaduola Gabriel.

“I really wanted to take models that are currently on our roster and support them on the social media side,” she went on. “They’re posting to post, and now we’re gonna post with a certain level of consciousness and a certain level of goal orientation that is vertical to their modeling career.”

The new division, a team of five, helps guide the models’ social media presence primarily on Instagram and TikTok to align with their passions, while growing their follower count strategically to attract brands, she said: “We’re here to protect her image. We’re here to monetize her image. We’re here to make sure that every booking is as lucrative as possible.”

Brands are looking for “authenticity, approachability, relatability,” she added. “Also someone whose voice resonates with their customer’s voice.”

While a model with a million followers may be getting a better event invitation, perhaps to the CFDA Awards for example, Lucus said, someone with 50,000 followers can land “a five-figure brand deal” on social media with a major player in fashion or beauty because of their level of engagement.

“It also widens the possibilities for models,” she said. A model who wouldn’t book a traditional Gucci or Prada campaign now has access to a beauty or eyewear campaign on social media with the same brands, she explained. Or she could be invited to a fragrance activation and dressed by a brand, she continued of the possibilities for model content creators. “The excitement that the Creators’ division has brought to the agency as a whole and its models has just been fantastic.”

A new feature on the agency website highlighting the new division and models’ social media follower counts launches Wednesday.

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