There's more to life than Gigi
No offence, but after endless Fashion Week shows it’s pretty clear that if you’ve seen Kendall and the Hadid sisters walk once, you’ve seen it a million times. Why not diversify? There’s a world of Instagram models out there, in all shapes and sizes, and they’re probably more interesting than anything you’d see on the runways during Fashion Week. Certainly from D&G, at least.
Emily Bador
Perfectly freckled Emily is half-Malaysian and is based in Brighton and London – and has the greatest, straightest fringe known to Instagram. She also regularly posts about the harsh body standards in the modelling industry and her ongoing journey with body positivity. Her reaction to accidentally being on the cover of a hair magazine for women of colour was also pretty great.
Ceilidh Joy
At just 22 Ceilidh has modelled for Glossier, Urban Outfitters and had a cameo in a video for The Weeknd. Her name, pronounced Kay-lee, is Gaelic for a type of Irish party, but she’s actually based in America, with parents from Seoul and England. She’s also reportedly dating BJ Novak, that guy from The Office. Who knew.
Barbie Ferreira
Based in New York, Barbie works for Whilemina Models and has appeared in campaigns for Teen Vogue, ASOS and Aerie. She doesn’t allow any of her images to be retouched and says: “I really learned quickly how to not care at all. I worked on it, until I became a boss ass bitch.”
Nyané Lebajoa
Nyané describes herself as a “digital influencer, blogger, model and aspiring fashion designer hailing form the UK, currently based in Berlin, Germany”. She regularly models for O Mighty and has the sharpest highlighting skills I have ever seen in this world.
Steqhs
While Stephanie doesn’t model for any major labels, her photos are amazing and she also sells her clothes on her Depop store.
Bella McFadden
Described as a “mall-rat Lolita” Bella (AKA Internetgirl) dropped out of college and makes her living selling on Depop full time. She’s been featured in Vogue and hailed as the new Nasty Gal. She told Vogue: “I dress like a full-time princess. Is that not the dream come true?”
Elita Harkov
Canadian student Elita, better known as Yungelita, designs most of the clothes she’s wears (and she doesn’t wear a lot) on her Instagram. She describes her painstakingly creative 90’s aesthetic as: “Clean, composed, provocative, pink, perverted, sparkly and shiny. But it’s always changing.
“I see art in everything.”
Jane Stanley
At just 20 Jane, who’s based in Australia, has a massive Instagram following and describes her cutesy manga photo style as “internet curation”. She says: “I spent three whole years inside my house. I didn’t leave; I was afraid to because I was hurt by people. It wasn’t until I started posting online that I found a community of people who were similar to me, who wore similar styles and had likeminded views. That was when I realised I’m not the only person who dresses like they came from a Hello Kitty factory.
“It helps when you find people similar to you, whether that be online or in person.”
A kinky, poly, cancer-warrior, activist, sexuality educator and performer with a Master’s of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University, Ericka Hart has taught sexuality education for elementary aged youth to adults across New York City for the past six years. Her work in sexuality education was catalyzed by her service as a Peace Corps HIV/AIDs volunteer in Ethiopia from 2008-2010. Diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer in May 2014 at the age of 28, she realized that neither her identity as a queer black woman, nor her sex life as a survivor, was featured prominently in her treatment.
Oanhdaqueen
Like Nyané, Oanh models extensively for O-Mighty and also writes about freedom of expression and nudity in her Instagram captions.
Model Rhea is best known for her curly ombre hair (which was inspired by Storm from X-Men), has been featured in Vogue and also makes her own music, which you can listen to on Soundcloud.
Jackyara Tatis
Described as a muse of underwear guru Creepy Yeha, Jacky also runs Killemretro, a soon-to-launch vintage store.
Paloma moved to New York from LA in 2010 to attend the New School, but quickly became an Instagram muse and plus sized model. In an interview with Allure she said: “I went through my whole life thinking I’m a pretty, chubby girl. I’ve never been skinny, so it’s something that was really born out of the visibility that social media granted me. I’m not supertall, and I don’t have this classic plus-size body, but I’m special in my own way, and I think that story is really inspiring to a lot of girls.”