Modelling is supposed to be one of the most glamorous jobs in the world. But what’s the reality like? Nick Duerden speaks to two models, one in their 70s and other in their 20s, about an industry where an ability to hustle is essential and photographers don’t always behave the way they should.
“Back in the late 1960s, I was working at the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, a PA to a minister for Sweden, and, oh, I was bored to tears,” recalls Tessa Hood. And so, at 19, Hood left the world of political bureaucracy and became instead a model.
“I was a pretty young thing, and used to getting a lot of attention I didn’t want. A friend was working as a model, and she invited me to come down to work at a fashion house for a season, where I was one of 13 girls doing three shows a day in their salon. We had to walk around with a number on the outfits we were wearing, and the fashion buyers would come along and choose the ones they wanted to stock in their stores. And do you know what? It was rather fun.”
So much fun, that Hood has spent the last half-century modelling. Now 75, she is on the books at Source Models, and remains much in demand.
“There are always more jobs,” she says, “and it’s always interesting. Over the years, I’ve done well over 100 TV commercials worldwide, and modelled for everything from Terry’s All Gold chocolate, to Special K, to Ajax White Tornado.
“Of course, in the 60s and 70s, the industry wasn’t quite as regulated as it is today, and there were some occasionally unpleasant incidences. I did an awful lot of undies modelling – I was all over Marks & Spencer’s packaging – and I once went for an underwear shoot where the photographer came into the room while I was changing into the bra and pants. He made advances. I told him that if he didn’t go, I’d scream. The client was in the next room, so he went.
“But I have to say that didn’t happen very much, not to me at least. I’ve been lucky, and I’ve had such adventures. I’ve dived into a sea of sharks in South Africa for Oil of Olay, then dived off the top board of a swimming pool in Munich for a skin cream.
“One time, in the early 1970s, I was in Israel with Ushi Obermaier, another model, who was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend. I was being paid £1,000 to do a poster campaign for bath oil, and had to pose, naked but tasteful, sitting in a glass bath in different parts of the country. One location was near the border of Egypt, where the two countries were, at the time, fighting. But it was quiet here, and remote. The bath was set up on a sand dune, and I had to lie in the water, up to my boobs in foam. Suddenly we heard a noise: the Israeli army arrived, who were out there on manoeuvres! They ordered me not to move. We were in the middle of a minefield. I had to be escorted out – carefully.
“Those were the days. Now, most campaigns are on social media, Facebook and Instagram and all those things. It’s very different.”
India Harl, a 28-year-old model also on the books at Source, says that her main work revolves around social media campaigns.
“I do lots of social content for Instagram, and for brands like River Island, Superdry and Gymshark, lots of beauty and make-up brands. But I’ve also done adverts in Turkey, and music videos in Bangkok. One of my Superdry campaigns actually ended up on a billboard in Piccadilly Circus. That was a surreal moment,” she said.
Harl, who has been modelling since the age of 10, explains that this is a profession that’s easier to enjoy once you accept that rejection is part of the job. “I’ve always maintained the same look – red hair, freckles – which is a ‘diverse look’. In other words, I’m not six foot and blonde. That’s fine by me, because there is always work for all sorts of looks.
“It’s actually a brilliant industry to work in, and very safe these days, but I do think it’s harder than people realise. I’m my own boss, I’m freelance, and a lot goes on behind-the-scenes. I hustle, I work hard. Opportunities are never offered to me on a plate. But I love it. I want to continue as a model for as long as I can, and I don’t see why that shouldn’t be possible.”
Hood is proof of this, and over the years has rarely considered doing anything else.
“I did a few acting jobs, a couple of plays and a couple of films, and I would have liked to have done more, but it never quite panned out. Modelling did.
“I was never a top model like Twiggy, but I was a very good commercial model, and it really is a job for life. As I got into my 30s and 40s, there were fewer fashion shoots but more lifestyle ones. And now that I’m in my 70s, I’m still busy: cruise adverts, pharmaceutical companies, retirement homes, walk-in baths!”
“A nice smile,” she says, “can take you a long way.”
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