Catwalk glamour in London or Paris, catfight clamor in Lithuania

KLAIPEDA - In once-in-a-blue-moon fashion shows on a national catwalk, lanky local models stride along with an obsession of getting a quick-as-possible ride to where models are more appreciated – to Milan, Tokyo, Miami, New York, London, Paris, Shanghai or Barcelona. “What kind of modeling industry in Lithuania do you want to hear of? Did you fall from the Moon to ask that question?” a surly co-owner of a modeling agency started fuming when asked about the Lithuanian modeling industry.
It is enough to browse the Web for a bit to find out that nearly half of all local modeling agencies are entangled in nasty mutual catfights. In addition, some of the model agencies swing back and forth through courthouse doors, engulfed in lengthy litigation procedures over misleading advertisements and model hiring practices.

On the darker side of the business, another handful of agencies are tarnished with prostitution accusations and are fighting the charges in the courts. Nevertheless, those modeling agencies that have managed to avoid all this do a splendid job: they give the girls their dream. Certainly, not in Lithuania, but somewhere else. “The business is all about clamor, but not glamour in Lithuania,” the same unfriendly source said, wrapping up a brief conversation.

If the most notorious wars, they say, are over women, the wars, obviously, get much nastier when there is a bunch of extremely pretty women. With a few distinguished faces able to rake up a fortune for an agency and, due to ever-increasing numbers of new faces, the competitive heat is as high as never before in the fashion industry. Some, to withstand it, resort to not quite ethical behavior. Recently, Baltic Model Management (BMM), a long-running modeling agency, ran an ad in a daily paper inviting girls to come to a model casting and claiming that there would be present representatives from the world famous modeling agencies STORM and M4. “They exclusively collaborate only with our agency,” the ad read. However, other agencies were quick to react to it, accusing BMM of “misleading and lies.”

“What they say is not true, as our agency has already signed agreements with STORM and M4. BMM’s info is purposely misleading and we are preparing a complaint to Lithuania’s Competition Board [the state agency that supervises advertising],” Inga Buividaite-Pragarauskiene, co-owner of modeling agency Major Amber Models, said. In response, BMM’s co-owner, Massimo Parigi, rebutted that their ad was “right.” If lawyers prove that the ad in the paper was indeed misleading, its announcer, BMM, could receive a fine, ranging from 1,000 to 30,000 litas (290 – 8,695 euros). Earlier, BMM, accused by Supermodels Model Management (SMM) of luring away an aspiring model and of a contract breach, had managed to settle the flaring dispute before it reached a court bench.

 “Agreements with models are a very tricky matter. Once you invest into a girl, you cannot protect yourself from the prospect that she will leave for another agency some day. Thus, we not only lose our investments, but also the initial activities with her are disrupted, which always result in unilateral damage,” Ugnius Kiguolis, Supermodels Model Management co-owner, revealed in a recent interview to alfa.lt. Modeling industry insiders, however, point out that SMM’s long-term contracts, signing up female models for many years, serve as the main reason for such contract disruptions. “I heard my models asserting that BMM’s hirers are ready to pay them from 500 to 1,000 euros for switching to the agency. They even promise our girls to hire a lawyer to help them terminate their signed agreements with our agency,” Kiguolis complained. However, BMM’s representative,

Bacelyte, dismisses the accusations, claiming, “Models themselves sign with agencies that they want to work for. Throughout the years we have been in the business, we have never offered money to anyone from another agency to come to us. Simply, we do not have time to chase other modeling agencies’ models. Switching from one agency to another is quite a normal thing in the industry, giving models possibilities to work for the modeling agencies that care most about them. A model is not a thing that, in somebody’s eyes, is stripped off of the right to choose what is best for her or him. Models tend to leave those agencies that work poorly and cheat. As far as our quarrel with Supermodels is concerned, it seems to me that they cannot put up with the public fact that the model was not happy about their work and chose another agency. That is why they spread nasty gossip,” BMM’s rep said.

Modeling business insiders unanimously agree that competition in the fledgling Lithuanian fashion business is becoming heated as never before. “Within the last five or six years, the number of modeling agencies has nearly doubled, but the demand for our models in international markets has considerably decreased, especially over the last two years of the global downturn. Therefore, we may expect more heated arguments in the near future,” a manager, who asked that her name not be revealed, pointed out to The Baltic Times.

Kristina Sumskiene, owner of the Europe Center Models Agency (ECMA), was one of a very few to speak publicly to The Baltic Times about the business. On its Web page, ECMA, founded in 2002 by Sumskiene, claims to be a modeling agency with both national and international contacts. The agency asserts that it collaborates with the most famous modeling agencies in New York, Paris, Tokyo, Cape Town, Singapore, Los Angeles, Milan, Barcelona, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Istanbul and other mega fashion hubs. “We have contacts with all major local designers in Lithuania. However, considering that there are being organized very few fashion shows, there is little need for fashion models in the domestic market. In addition, if our models participate in local fashion shows, they are not usually paid. An invitation to a post-show party and an opportunity to be acquainted with a local designer serves as the only gratitude in Lithuania. If we had catered exclusively to the Lithuanian fashion market, we would have gone bankrupt nine years ago,” Sumskiene maintained to The Baltic Times.

“Sadly, there is no such thing as a modeling business or fashion market in Lithuania. Therefore, we exclusively cater to foreign markets. We have contacts with over a few dozen of the most famous modeling agencies all over the world. That is what carries us,” the entrepreneur pointed out. She describes competition among modeling agencies as “increasing,” but tends to downplay it, affirming, “There is enough room for every honest player.” Having said that, she was quick to add, “There are plenty of not very nice things in the Lithuanian [market].” However, the agency owner did not want to elaborate, suggesting, “Let others speak about that. I do not find it worthy to talk about gossip, squabbles and catfights. I am above that.”

How do local modeling agencies make money? Their prosperity depends on how big the contracts are of signed models, and what kind of work the model gets. The more famous the foreign modeling agency, the more lucrative modeling gigs they can offer to sub-contracted Lithuanian models. The more lucrative the work is, the bigger pay the girl receives and the larger the commissions for her agency go, both in Lithuania and abroad. “It is not a big secret – we take from 10 to 30 percent of a model’s royalties,” Sumskiene revealed. In terms of pay, she names China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, South Africa, all of Western Europe and the richest Arab countries as the best.

“If you want to find out about a modeling agency’s capacities, check out how many models it has in these countries,” Sumskiene says. Asked about ECMA’s number, she answers that approximately 200 of ECMA’s girls have contracts with foreign modeling agencies. Most of the models are high school girls, which complicate things a bit, as they have to adjust their strutting to their school work curriculums. “With these 200 girls available, however, in reality, only approximately 20 of them work at one time,” she emphasized. The fashion business, she asserts, has already bounced back from the sluggish-to-nearly-halted 2009 season. “That year was extremely bad. I had a feeling that everything has stopped. Nearly no castings, no fashion shows, no interest in models from any market segment. It could not have been worse than it was. Certainly, describing the situation, I have in mind the fashion industry centers worldwide, not Lithuania. Fortunately, last year, the business started picking up slowly, as with the economic recovery, foreign textile companies started displaying their production, releasing new fashion catalogues and planning their production marketing. As a result, our models were on good demand again. I hope the positive trend will keep going up this year as well,” Sumskiene suggested.

However, she does not cherish any hopes for the Lithuanian fashion industry. “No doubt, here nothing will substantially change in five or ten years, as our textile industry is small and crisis-struck. Besides, we do not have big fashion traditions, somehow capable of shaping up the market and its trends. With a few designers working calmly in their shops and trying to cut their expenses by all means, there will never be a big demand for fashion models,” she predicted.
Jolanta Sadauskiene, owner of Modilinos modeling agency which, according to its Web site, claims to be the longest running modeling industry in Lithuania, says “Lithuania is not very literate in the modeling field and we often have to tell our clients about existing rules in the advertising world.”  Asked about modeling business peculiarities, she maintained that “A fashion market does not exist in Lithuania.”

“What we like to repeat to aspiring girls is that they can only obtain some modeling practice in Lithuania, while a model’s career is being sought in the main fashion industry centers, like New York, Paris, London, Milan and some other cities,” Sadauskiene pointed out to The Baltic Times. She asserts that she does not feel any competition locally, as the Modilinos modeling agency has been in the business long and has earned its clients’ trust. “Throughout all the years, we have managed to keep up our main activities and extend them beyond the regular field, focusing on event organizing and marketing. We do that because it is more convenient for our clients,” the entrepreneur said.

Asked about trends in the business, she responded, “They do not change. The most important thing in the business is to find an appropriate face and to develop it further.” The agency owner maintains that the economic downturn has been over for her already a long time ago. “It has worked well for us, as it has sifted out our clients, leaving the strongest,” she asserted. Sadauskiene, like ECMA’s Sumskiene, does not nurture big hopes for her business on the domestic market. “Since it does not exist here, we focus on the biggest fashion centers worldwide. It will be that way for many, many years to come. It would be naive to believe that the fashion market from the world fashion capitals will someday move here. Hopefully, we will see more international brands coming to Lithuania. Hopefully, local manufacturers will recover some day. Maybe we will have more advertising work then,” Sadauskiene said, expressing her hopes.