Rhiannon D’Averc visited the home of The Model Workshops London to attend the final casting call for Ibiza Fashion Festival.

You will remember our coverage of the first round of casting for the Ibiza Fashion Festival, taking place this summer, in Issue 34. Since then, the last round of casting has taken place, with final selections being made – and the chosen models have signed their contracts and started getting to work.

The second round of the casting attracted a higher quality of model, though the panel were ruthless in their decisions to cut anyone who did not make the grade. Some
models failed to prepare properly, not bringing along the correct information. Turning up without the right things is a big no-no for any casting call, so if you are planning to attend one in the future, make sure that you check, check, and check again all of the instructions.

Some models were their own worst enemies. Even if they may have followed the instructions to the letter, it was clear that they were not living their best model lives. With modelling comes a certain responsibility to look after the tools of your trade – in this case, your body. Those who did not take care of their skin, don’t eat properly, or fail to stay in shape through exercise were quickly removed from the running.

The Ibiza Fashion Festival package for the models includes an intense fitness and nutrition programme before the event, to ensure that everyone is in their best bikini shape before they strut their stuff. This is incredibly important for modelling – most designers will make garments to sample sizes only, and even in the plus size or petite worlds there are set standards. Models that don’t fit won’t make the grade.

Models who lie about their height, age, or weight on their application forms will also be seen through very quickly. Girls, take note! Honesty is the best policy.

Then there is the public side of things: what appears if someone searches your name. Some promising candidates had to be let go from the process because of their borderline pornographic Instagram profiles, which didn’t fit with what the brands wanted to promote. Others were let down by their loud and lairy behaviour – while it may be expected from tourists in clubs, it has no place at a fashion show. There is much more to being a model than just looking pretty – as a lot of hopefuls found out for themselves at the castings. Now that the decisions have been made, we look forward to updating you with more as the Ibiza Fashion Festival quickly approaches.

Find details of upcoming casting calls and workshops at instagram.com/themodelworkshops.