Fashion week brings all of the ‘classically’ [pouty, emaciated, prepubescent-looking-yet-horny-tasting] male models to Manhattan… the BGB staff have stumbled upon plenty of doe-eyed model virgins looking lost on streetcorners, trying to make sense of Manhattan’s incredibly complicated grid layout.
You can spot them from a few blocks away… usually shockingly tall [7'?], pouty lips, floppy hair, an with those “you can blow me, you just can’t kiss me” eyes. Swoon. New York magazine has a brilliant write-up of these first time “rookies”:
The boys are restless but pay attention. Then they each practice walking—a normal, nothing walk. Unlike the female models who lean back and clomp down the runway, the men just walk like they were caught thinking about vanilla. “At first I was thinking about it too hard, but now I just walk,” says Petey. “It’s pretty easy.”
When the show is over, Petey, AJ, and I speed over to Pier 94 on the West Side Highway for the Rag & Bone show. Neither of Petey’s runway gigs today will pay any money. Instead, he’ll receive “trade”: a free sweater and sneakers from Duckie Brown and a $1,000 credit at Rag & Bone. The clothes are all right, but it’s hard to pay rent with a retro peacoat.
Financially speaking, male modeling is not unlike being a straight-male porn star: The men have always made less than the women, and very few become big names. For most magazine work, models are paid less than $250. Twenty percent of that goes to the agency, which also bills models for their board and expenses. “Sometimes you get charged for things you never thought of,” says Petey, “like $30 a month to be on the website.”
More at New York Magazine.
