Long hours, Instagram hell – being a Hong Kong model is fun, but it isn’t all roses
Models in Hong Kong say the initial dazzle of the career can be a trap for young women moving from overseas. These experienced insiders say more needs to be done to stop newcomers from being exploited by the industry
Anya Tekin understands that she needs to post regularly on Instagram in her line of work, but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. “If I wasn’t a model I wouldn’t post as much, and it would be photos of architecture or silly cat pictures,” she says.
The Ukranian-born, Hong Kong-based model says the photo-sharing app has become so integral to her work that if she deleted it she would probably lose about a third of her work.
It’s a sentiment others in the industry share. They say that the social media site is flooded with Photoshopped “Instagram models” clamouring for followers.
Industry heavyweights including American Rebecca Romijn and Australian Essena O’Neill have spoken out against the platform for its negative impact on the modelling industry and women in particular.
The drugs come in to deal with weight and anxiety. Living in Central, [you have] one drink at 7pm, and then the next thing you know it’s 4am – and that’s standard.
It’s no secret that modelling is a cutthroat business, and there are many pitfalls for models, especially those working in big cities far from home. New York-based fashion news site Models.com posted an article recently filled with anecdotes from models exposing the industry’s long working hours, the unwanted sexual advances that happen at shoots and how models lose wages after gaining weight.