Runway de Rigueur

CEBU, Philippines - After last week’s feature, Model Mania, on the new stars in the modeling firmament, I received tons of queries clamoring for the de rigueur to make it big in that particular arena. Blame it on technology but these over eager teeners and their moms didn’t leave the proverbial stone unturned just to get in touch. I got emails, 2 faxes, text messages and calls, not to mention exasperation, after most of the queries ran from the mundane to the plainly absurd (e.g. “Sir, you just have to see me for last night I dreamt I’m going to be the next Melanie Marquez even though I’m just 5 ft. 3 blah blah blah…)

M.A.C.>Models Association of Cebu’s strength is in the runway and it has solidified its clout in that area. Ask any respectable designer, director or a photographer and they almost always answer in unison – M.A.C. has the taller girls who are best suited for the runway. So to set the record straight, runway girls have a minimum height of 5 ft. 7 in international standards. So just like top Paris-London-New York models Raquel Zimmermann, Natalia Vodianova, Coco Rocha and the blonde of the moment Agyness Deyn, local runway stars Stephanie Señires, Angel Luzano and Elvira Stehr to name a few are taller than the average Pinay. Don’t be deceived but only basketball players and runway models are taller in person than when you see them in the glossy mags, newspapers or on boob tube. The opposite can be said of actors which are mostly smaller in person.

“It’s all in the proportion,” opined designer Protacio. “Runway models should have an eight head proportion (the distance from the neck to the heel is equivalent to eight heads) so most naturally they should be really tall for the clothes to look their best.” Statistics showed that the average height of the Filipina is just 5 ft. 3 in, then it can be deduced that runway girls are a rarity. As an agent, I also want it to be known that modeling can be very demanding. Personally, being tall and beautiful is far from being enough. Out of hundreds of girls who applied, ten will do well but only one or two can be a star. Why? It’s not enough to be 5 ft. 10 in and to have a lovely or interesting face. Here are more requirements: a model should be able to define a look, symmetry, over-all harmony and a personality that comes through. Great self-control (discipline in plainer term), strong will, a healthy sense of self, charm and above all, a great attitude, those can be hard to find in one package. But if you have all of the above, then what are you waiting for?

Bravissimo!