Instagram Stars Who Landed Huge Modeling Deals

Adriana Lima, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and Gisele Bundchen are among the many models, who were discovered by agents as they were going about their daily business. Now, they all have multi-million dollar modeling careers. But in this modern era of social media, does it matter to be at the right place at the right time? Out of the thousands of people who want to make it big in the fashion industry, only a few know that scouts are constantly looking into social networking sites, hoping to discover the next supermodel. In social media, particularly on Instagram, they are able to see somebody’s personality instantly, so it makes the casting process much more faultless and easy. However, with millions of photos uploaded and shared on these social media sites every hour, finding someone, who is a total package, is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Nonetheless, social media has been a reliable source in providing world-class models. Among the most notable discoveries from social media include the discovery of Chantell Harlow by Tyra Banks. Well-known for accepting her rare condition, Harlow embraced her vitiligo, which caused her skin discoloration. Now, she is the face of Diesel and Desigual. Aside from Chantell, there are lots of fresh new faces making a name for themselves in the modeling scene and the following names are just some of them:

Matthew Noszka, Hugo Boss

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Matthew Noszka, a 22-year-old native of Pittsburgh, once worked on a construction site and played basketball in a gym. And, like most guys his age, he posted some of his shirtless photos on his Instagram account. Now, he is a top model with modeling gigs for Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, and Nike. As the grandson of Stanley Noszka, a bench player who spent two seasons with the Celtics, Matthew inherited some of his grandfather’s basketball skills. And, because of his ability of dunking a basketball and looking great while doing it, his male modeling career was launched. Approximately three years after he began posting his photos on social media, he received an email from Wilhelmina Modeling Agency suggesting he had a future in front of the camera. However, he didn’t respond because he thought it was a total scam. He didn’t even have an idea what Wilhelmina was all about. It was his mother, who urged him to respond because she knew that the modeling agency is known all over the world. In a short amount of time, this 6’2 blond lad took the public by storm and rose to the top of the modeling world. At first, Noszka was wary when his agent, Luke Simone, asked him to submit shirtless photos for clients. He even ignored him for three days, but then snapped photos and emailed it to him. A day later, Simone told him that Jordan and Nike wanted to book him for a shoot in New York City. The following day, he drove to New York and met with his agent to sign the contract he was offered. Also on the same day, he posed for an editorial for BlackBook magazine and attended his first casting call for Wrangler. Because everything went so well, Noszka has been offered various modeling jobs around the world. He has been the choice of many designers, such as Tom Ford, Calvin Klein, Moncler, and Astrid and Anderson.

Lindsey Lugrin, Marc by Marc Jacobs

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With her wit and talent, Lindsey Lugrin is definitely more than just a pretty face. The Houston native began her modeling career, while taking a degree in General Geology at the University of Texas. Now, she is finishing her master’s degree in geology at Rutgers University. In 2013 when she moved to New Jersey, she met an agent and agreed to accept modeling gigs with the condition that studies comes first and modeling second. In April 2014, Marc Jacobs and Katie Grand asked Twitter and Instagram users to send a photo of themselves using the #CastMeMarc hashtag. Over 70,000 users responded to the call and sent their applications, but only 30 finalists were given the chance to fly to New York. Lindsey was among the chosen few to do the campaign for Marc by Marc Jacobs. As a way of celebrating her win, she drank wine and did more schoolwork. According to the 24-year-old brunette, “I have always been told that I am beautiful, but too short, so it’s nice to be recognized. But I have a mountain of geology crap to do”.

Toks Adewetan, Marc by Marc Jacobs

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Like Lindsey Lugrin, Toks Adewetan is among the many faces, whose modeling career was launched through Marc by Marc Jacobs. During the day, this 26-year-old lad from Brooklyn works as a teacher’s assistant in Bed-Stuy middle school for children with special needs. However, his Instagram account suggests he was too cool for school. Toks was among the 70,000 Instagram users, who submitted photos of themselves using the hashtag #CastMeMarc. But unlike most of them, he was lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the brand’s 2014 fall campaign. Prior to his submission, the single father has been doing a number of photography and modeling gigs. When he found out about the competition, he didn’t have second thoughts. In the future, Toks hopes to land more modeling gigs. He wants to have a major billboard in Times Square and take a photo of himself with it.

Lauren Punter, ASOS

Lauren Punter took her chances and applied at the very last minute with the curve supermodel competition of Models 1. Out of the 80,000 hopefuls, she stood out and won a Models 1 Curve contract, a shoot at ASOS Studio, and a £500 worth of ASOS vouchers. The competition asked women aged 17 to 18, who wear an 18-size dress, to upload an image of themselves on Instagram using the hashtag #MakeMeACurveModel. When she made it to the top 10 stage, she was invited to come to the Models 1 Head Office. There, she met the ASOS and Models 1 team. She was interviewed, photographed, and judged on a certain criteria, which include beauty, shape, personality, interesting features, and appearance. She was chosen as one of the top 5 finalists and was called for a final day casting at the Models 1 and ASOS HQ. At that time, her hair and makeup was done. She also took part in going down the catwalk and in a photo shoot. The judging panel then deliberated and decided on the winner. An ASOS spokesperson said, “In line with ASOS, Models 1 know the importance of a healthy body image in all shapes and sizes – it is important to represent healthy girls. Lauren’s Instagram pictures were great, but the moment that she walked in, we knew instantly we had found a winner who has a true ASOS girl with real star quality”. As a child, the size 18 beauty dreamed of becoming a model, but never thought her wish might actually come true. One day, she was just watching America’s Next Top Model and walked around the house pretending to be on a catwalk. Now, she is making a name for herself in the industry. The young beauty says she would like to pursue a career in acting at some point, but right now, she wants to focus on modeling.

Ben Nordberg, DKNY

Ben Nordberg grew up in Bath, a small city in England, where everyone is fearless when they are young. Growing up, he knew things will become a bit more frightening since every move has a consequence. Nevertheless, he managed to earn the respect of the skateboarding and modeling industry along the way. He started skateboarding at the age of 11. Because all his friends were skating, he joined them and instantly became addicted. Some of his pals stopped skating over time, but he kept going. As time went on, his hobby gave him the chance to travel the world and meet great people. While his jaw-dropping moves made every skateboard enthusiast admire him, his style and astonishing good looks won the hearts and minds of many ladies. His modeling career began after appearing on his then-girlfriend’s Instagram account, who happened to model for Next Modeling Agency. During his first meeting with the agency, he recalls, “I just said, ‘Skateboarding is No. 1, but if I can do some extra stuff, great’”. Although he was doubtful at first, the amateur skater landed the recent DKNY men’s campaign with Cara Delevingne. In fact, after Delevingne tagged him on her account, his Instagram followers increased by more than 12,000. Even if his priority is still skating, he still wants to land a campaign with Saint Laurent or Burberry. And despite his tight schedule, Nordberg has been able to balance his skate and modeling career well. With skateboarding, he decides his schedule, so it allows him to do shoots and at the same time, travel. Although these Insta-hotties already have huge social media following and accounts that are still gathering likes all day, they still go out, attend castings and land major contracts because they want to make it in the industry. Fame may look easy on social media, but being successful doesn’t just involve luck. It may be possible for them to self-promote themselves on the Internet, but patience, perseverance and industry connections are still required to succeed in the modeling world.