Aminata Mendes* has dreams of a modelling career to support her struggling family. An invitation to a photoshoot by a company describing itself as the UK’s largest studio group promised to be the breakthrough. “My family and I are recent immigrants from west Africa and they told me that my modelling potential could help support my family financially,’” says the 18-year-old student, who has lived in Flintshire in Wales since arriving from Guinea-Bissau last year.
The company, The Studio Collective, duly took a series of photographs which Mendes says she was given to believe was a test shoot. It then demanded £2,500 for 30 digital images, a photographic business card and a basic website.
“They told my father and me that because they were busy we had to decide immediately,” she says. “My father was emotionally pressured to not let me down and I was pressured to help my family, so we paid £250 deposit and signed a credit agreement.
“We later found out that a fair price for the photographs would have been around £200 and that I have no real chance of becoming a model because I am several inches too short.”
The family is now struggling to afford the repayments. Mendes’s father, who earns £1,200 a month as a factory worker, is working overtime to raise the money and Mendes has taken a part-time factory job to make up the shortfall.
The Studio Collective, which advertises premises in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Miami, is one of a multitude of firms seeking to cash in on the aspirations of would-be models. Many trade under several names simultaneously and the sales pitch is always the same. Those who wind up on the websites are asked to submit an online form that merely asks for their name and address and a photograph. They are told that, if they are accepted, the team will help develop their potential and win contracts in the modelling industry.
Almost everyone, it seems, is told they have what it takes. Typically, they are required to pay a deposit to secure an appointment and are then pressured into paying extortionate sums for mediocre photographs, with extra charged for copyright and prints. It is impressed upon them that a photographic portfolio is a necessary passport into the fashion world and that, because of their unique selling points, jobs worth up to £1,000 may follow. In fact, reputable agencies only require an unstyled selfie, then organise photos free if they detect potential. They do not require deposits or charge registration fees.
“It’s an appalling situation and I would estimate we get about 700 emails a year from victims with some dreadful stories,” says John Horner, a director of the Association of Modelling Agents. “I’ve been in the industry 20 years and it’s a problem that’s been getting worse since the government stopped licensing agencies in 1994.”
In 2010 modelling agencies were banned from charging upfront fees and a mandatory 30-day cooling-off period was introduced before charging for photographs. However, the rules don’t apply to agencies representing actors or extras, which allows opportunist firms to claim they do. Others, like The Studio Collective, have got around the law by calling themselves modelling “platforms”.
Last year, acting and modelling agencies were behind 19% of complaints to the Employment Standards Agency Inspectorate, overseen by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, but the government says it has no plans to reintroduce licensing. And, despite the fact that modelling “platforms” are touting themselves as agencies in all but name, the Inspectorate and BEIS refuse to get involved, referring complainants to Citizens Advice and Trading Standards.
Those misled into paying tend to be the young and the vulnerable, often with a poor command of English. Teaching assistant Tracy Baker was grieving over the sudden death of her father when an ad for The Studio Collective popped up on her Facebook page.
Her father had wanted her to try modelling so she applied and was invited for an assessment for which she had to pay a £50 deposit. She ended up parting with £1,500 for a portfolio of what she says were unflattering photographs.
“They were displayed very quickly on a screen and I was told they would be deleted if I didn’t buy them there and then,” she says.
The studio told her that she would be supported in finding work, but says all she received was contacts for six agency websites, all of which required joining fees. She signed up to two, paying a further £160, but has received no offers. “I wanted to do this for my Dad and all I have done is make a fool of myself thinking anyone would actually want a woman of 50 looking like I do,” she says.
In 2015 Fusion Studios, which operates from the same Manchester address as The Studio Collective, was forced to apologise after a mother with learning difficulties was allegedly talked into signing a £2,000 credit agreement for substandard shots of her daughter. It refunded her after media pressure.
Fusion and The Studio Collective are owned by Michael Hannah, who also runs similar modelling “platforms” under different names – Luxe, Kube and Startup Models. All take care to point out they are not agencies, but offer applicants a “route” into modelling. Costs aren’t specified on the websites.
Last year Hannah was exposed by the BBC’s Rogue Traders for selling low-grade portfolios to undercover applicants and promising potentially lucrative contacts.
The Studio Collective told the Observer that prices for its portfolio packages start at £299 and that the different options are explained to applicants before their appointment. It says that its customers have a 14-day cooling-off period but does not say whether this is also explained.
“£2,500 is a lot of money for the vast majority, but we, like almost every company, have larger, more expensive, packages for those that want to spend,” says a spokesperson who refuses to give a name. “Why would we not? We are a business like any other.”
Although the confirmation email sent to Mendes promised that it provides models to “many industry-established agencies”, the company declines to name any of them or to confirm how many applicants it helps into work. Instead, Mendes was referred to four web-based firms. All require a high registration fee and one describes itself as a “platform” offering the same high-price “services” as The Studio Collective.
The Observer showed five of Mendes’s portfolio photos to Karen Diamond, head scout at Models 1, a 50-year-old agency which has represented top models including Twiggy, Linda Evangelista and Yasmin Le Bon. She concluded that none would be suitable for a professional portfolio because of poor cropping, lighting and styling. “Two could have been taken on a phone,” she says.
Online forums abound with complaints. Many of the companies are based in Manchester. Manchester Trading Standards declines to comment on how many they have received or whether it is investigating specific companies. “We would encourage anybody affected by these rogue operations to report their concerns to Citizens Advice,” says councillor Nigel Murphy of Manchester City Council. “They will provide the intelligence to the most appropriate trading standards service. In Manchester, our trading standards team investigates reports of companies trading illegally and will not hesitate to prosecute those operating outside the law.”
Citizens Advice says it advised 71 victims of modelling scams between January and March 2017. “We have seen a number of scams that target and pressure models to pay upfront for photos at highly inflated prices,” says its consumer expert, Jan Carton. “Often these photos are poor quality or the scammer may disappear even before taking them. Scammers will often use pressure selling techniques to get you to part with your money such as threatening to delete the photos if you don’t buy them at a certain price. You should not agree to pay for any photos upfront. You should also be wary of being contacted out the blue or receiving an offer that sounds too good to be true.”
* Her name has been changed
Warning signs
Reputable modelling agencies earn their money from commissions paid by the advertising and fashion firms who employ their models. They are forbidden by the Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations 2010 to charge an upfront fee, including a deposit to secure an appointment or an administrative charge to add you to their website. They can charge a fee for photo services, but only after a 30-day cooling-off period.
Steer clear of companies that:
Describe themselves as “platforms” and offer to assess your chances of being accepted by a modelling agency.
Ask for a refundable fee to ensure you turn up for an assessment.
Claim that you need a portfolio to break into the world of modelling.
Tell you after a photoshoot you have potential, and introduce you to an adviser.
Insist that the photos will be deleted unless you buy them there and then.
If you feel you have been scammed, contact Citizens Advice consumer service on 0345 404 0506.