Internship at a model agency?! Experience with CM Models

What is actually behind the Vogue cover and the fashion magazines? How are the models found and how do they get their jobs? How do you know which one is the perfect model and who is behind it all? I was allowed to take a look behind the scenes and got an insight into what actually happens every day in a model agency. Because what you look at from the outside is not always as easy as you imagine it to be. CM Models carefully selects each of its models so that they can offer them the best possible career, because the goal is of course to make the models big. Also in a model agency there are different areas and each is responsible for a different area. I did my internship at FIV Magazine. This is the online fashion magazine of CM Models.

Internship at a model agency – my experiences at CM Models

My first own article in a fashion magazine – #day 1

When I arrived at the office of CM Models on my first day, the employees were in the middle of a meeting, which was actually pretty cool, because it gave you a glimpse of what happens every day in a model agency. Afterwards I was shown the agency and got to know the employees a little bit. Shortly thereafter I started my first article. I hadn’t had any experience in this area before and therefore the beginning was a bit difficult. My first article was about shoes online shopping: Trends for women and men. At first I didn’t know at all what to write about it, because of course you want to write the perfect article, but you just have to write on it and then it works all by itself. The first day was really fast and I was very satisfied. The employees are all super nice and relaxed.

One article after the other – #day 2

On my second day the article writing worked much better already. I got a list to work through with specific topics for articles and wrote one article after the other. Most articles were about shoes, knitting baby shoes, fighting shoe problems, DIY’s how to conjure something nice out of old shoes and many more articles. Much more didn’t happen on that day, but it was still a lot of fun and the second day went by like a flash.

Shopping is work? In a model agency that’s part of it – #day 3

“Want to go shopping with me later?” When this question came, I thought it was a joke at first, so my reaction wasn’t very joyful because I wondered what exactly it meant. But what was meant was exactly what was said. On that day Dilara and I were shopping for a shooting, which was the next day. It was about shoes and we had to find out suitable outfits for the shoes, so that they could be set perfectly in scene. What a great task!

The first time behind the scenes of a shooting – #day 4 and 5

On my fourth and fifth day I was allowed to look behind the scenes of a shooting and also got to know a model from the agency personally for the first time and the models are absolutely not as one imagines them to be. The model was super sweet, cheerful and just had fun at work. There was no bitchiness or superficiality. We went out with packed backpacks in which the outfits and shoes were carefully stowed and looked for a suitable spot. We went to a cinema because there were big windows with lots of light and great locations to shoot. Unfortunately it was quite rainy and cold that day, so we couldn’t shoot outside. But despite all that, it was very interesting to take a look behind the scenes of a professional photo shoot.

Festival articles and the best fashion magazines – #day 6

These were by far my favourite articles. After my first week, it really started again and I was allowed to write an article about festivallooks and one about the biggest fashion magazines from New York and those were also the two articles I had the most fun with. I looked for some inspiration on the perfect festival locomotives on Instagram and read through thousands of fashion magazines. The best job in the world, I’d say.

Meeting with Yulianna – #day 7

My tasks in the two weeks of course did not consist of writing articles every day. I was also supposed to take as much insight as I could from the two weeks, so I was able to attend a meeting with Yulianna Yussef on my seventh day. CM Models does not only work with models, but also with some influencers like Yulianna Yussef. It was very exciting to sit at such a meeting and simply listen to each other’s expectations and what the future cooperation will look like. And Yulianna’s dog was simply sugary, so the day is sweetened once more.  The rest of the day I continued writing my articles from the day before and started writing more articles.

Write categories, what does that mean? – #day 8

Such a fashion magazine does not write itself of course. On day number eight, I wrote short texts for the individual categories of the website, which describe and summarize the categories. I was busy with that for a few hours. On such a web page of a fashion magazine there are really some categories and for each there is a co-ordinated text. In the meantime, one of the trainees always came and looked at my texts and it’s a bit funny what spelling mistakes you make if you just concentrate on fast writing.

Shootings with Luisa and Yulianna – #day 9

On day nine I took part in further shootings, this time in a real photo studio. First Luisa had her shooting. She is under contract as a model with CM Models. She got her make-up and hair done and then it started. The shooting was for her portfolio. There were shots taken of her face and every single one of these pictures was simply beautiful. I just observed what was happening and let it affect me. The mood was very relaxed, everyone had fun and laughed a lot. Later Yulianna came for her shooting. She shot dreamlike pictures of her body. The day was quite exciting and thrilling, I think almost one of my favorite days, because you have once seen how a real fashion shooting takes place. While the models were being styled, I also had one or two conversations with the photographer. He was super sweet and answered all my questions, so I learned a lot about the model agency and also about the life of a photographer. It was really interesting to hear how the photographer got into photography and how far he made it. He definitely found his dream job. And also during the conversations between the model and the photographer or the stylist you could catch a lot of interesting things. From Germany via Cape Town to London everything is there and for the model a dream probably comes true. There you almost get a bit jealous of what she experiences.

My last day – #day 10

On my last day I wrote this article and in between I was there when the model applications were looked at. It was very interesting to see what the model selection is about and what criteria they have to meet. It is not always important that the models are beautiful or thin, but there are many other factors that make a model.

My Conclusion

The internship was a lot of fun and hardly felt like work. I was able to incorporate my passion for fashion, instagram and the like into my work on a daily basis, did instastories and read a lot about the latest trends, clicked my way through cool looks at Instagram and was also able to incorporate my own favourites. Every day was very varied and I was allowed to look into many areas. I also got to know some cool people, from models and photographers to employees and so on. I have to say that you also have to be made to sit at the desk a lot. I always thought before that this wasn’t my thing at all, but it was a lot of fun and the time passed by every day. I’ve never been bored and every now and then you still move around when you come along to shootings or go shopping. I can recommend to everyone who wants to take a look behind the scenes to do such an internship. At first I also thought that I wouldn’t get a internship for two weeks anyway, but CM Models made it possible for me and I thought it was really cool. Thanks a lot!

XOXO Tessa