One of the North East's biggest modeling agencies is about to start exporting its expertise to China. John Hill finds out more.
IT was a question that came to Lesley Middlemiss Lister while she was signed up for evening classes a few years back.
As the director of an established modelling agency, she could turn up for classes in how to learn skills and languages, but where would a person go to learn modelling?
She says: “My husband was doing courses in things such as plastering, and I was learning Spanish. I realised people of all ages were doing formal qualifications, but there was no formal qualification for modelling. Some of the agencies would do their own training, but it wouldn’t be accredited.”
The brainwave led the Tyne Tees Models founder to set up Model Boot Camp three years ago, a sister company which provided training courses for people interested in the fashion modelling world.
It took several years to build up a range of courses accredited by the National Open College Network and City & Guilds. However, she’s now also on the verge of taking the idea a few thousand miles further afield.
Shanghai Casting is a joint venture with a Chinese firm which came about when she met businessman Adam Jin during a trade trip to the country organised by the UKTI.
Lister says: “I’d gone out to China to find modelling agencies we might be able to work with. It was while I was there that I’d met with Mr Jin who’d heard about the courses, and wanted to set up something like it over there.”
Shanghai Casting is to launch in September, and will follow a similar line to the Model Boot Camp. Models will receive tuition in key areas including photography, catwalk choreography, business, health and fitness, and hair and make-up. While the UK course runs 16 hours a week for a year, the Chinese course will last for three years.
Lister says: “I’ve seen too many horror stories to be advising girls to go out on their own. With an agency, you’ve got a bit of back-up, like having a union behind you, and there are a lot more opportunities for work.
“However, the course will help people find out a little bit more about industry. People on the course might not even want to get into modelling. They might want to do fashion and styling or production.
“With Shanghai Casting, we’re going to be offering Chinese students an English qualification in modelling. Education is becoming increasingly important in China and having an English qualification has a lot of credibility. We’ll be looking at taking tutors out there. We’d love to send models over to China in future, and the Chinese models can do the same over there. It’s a fantastic opportunity for any new model.”
