Ubooker: this digital modelling agency wants to transform the fashion world

Models Claudia Wagner and Diana Gaertner used their experience as models to right the industry's wrongs 
Amelia Heathman16 September 2019

Tech has transformed so much of the fashion industry, from mixed reality catwalk shows to the way we can buy our clothes at the push of a button and have them delivered in mere hours.

But there's one aspect of the fashion machine which has failed to embrace the digital world and that's modelling. This causes plenty of issues, particularly when it comes to agencies and booking jobs.

Often models won’t get paid until three months after a shoot, tubhough their agency and manager will get their commission beforehand. The amount of commission taken can even be up to 50 per cent of a model’s fee, causing people to resort to working in bars in order to pay their rent. This is even before we get to the stories of sexual assault that came out as a result of the #MeToo movement.

“Agencies used to send their models out to sexual predators knowingly. We all know this today,” says model Claudia Wagner, who has been modelling for 20 years, and has fronted campaigns for the likes of Armani and Chanel.

Along with fellow model Diana Gaertner, the two decided to launch Ubooker, a digital modelling agency that aims to right the wrongs found in the fashion industry and give powers back to the models that serve at its heart.

Based in Soho, with a team of 12, here’s how it works.

From idea to reality: The rise of Ubooker

Wagner and Gaertner hatched out the idea for Ubooker over dinner in New York to try and restore some balance to the modelling industry.

“Models tend to give power away, we have agents and managers and we let other people deal with stuff,” she explains. “And we thought, why don’t we has models just start something and create a structure with the help of technology to help everyone. To help our colleagues, the other models, to make more money and be paid faster, and for the client it’s more efficient too.”

They teamed up with Wagner’s husband, Nicola Scagnolari, former US CEO and president of the Japanese fashion brand Evisu, and Andrea Losso, the company’s CTO, to create the digital solution which launched in 2017.

A brand or company will search the platform to find a model suitable for a campaign or shoot. Ubooker serves up models that meet its requirements – a booker is the person in an agency that books models for jobs – and then the client sends the model a direct request. The model then accepts the booking, does the job and gets paid all through the platform.

Altogether it’s a faster process on both sides, when it comes to organising the job – which is better for the client – and payments. Models are paid between seven to 10 days after a job, instead of three months later.

Red Circle Investments, which also backs Depop, invested in the company last year. Its CEO Renzo Rosso also doubles up as the president of the parent company of brands including Diesel and Viktor & Rolf.

“What we’re trying to do here is not just put a little bit of digital around a modelling agency – we’re trying to make it a more efficient process,” says Scagnolari. “The goal in the future is to apply artificial intelligence to our clients to select models – it’s a growing tech business.”

Safety is crucial

Since launching with 50 models back in 2017, there are now over 900 models on the platform with clients such as YOOX-Net a Porter, The Kooples and Etam using the service.

But just because it’s an online platform and not a traditional agency doesn’t affect the standards. Only about 10 per cent of prospective models make it on to the platform and Ubooker will not work with models under the age of 18. Safety too is paramount for the company.

There’s an SOS button in the app for models to access in case something goes wrong at a shoot. There’s also a location feature, so a model can activate the location of a job or a fitting in the app. This can log where it is as well as the timings of the shoot.

“If you find yourself at a shoot and something happens – you feel intimidated or asked to do something you don’t like you press it and we deal with it so you don’t have to,” explains Wagner.

“People ask us, ‘How do you check for safety?’” adds Scagnolari. “Technology gives you amazing tools to check a lot of things and it’s fantastic.”

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Combining tech and fashion

It hasn’t been an easy process to combine the two worlds of tech and fashion. Scagnolari describes fashion and beauty as being “snobbish territories”, whereas tech is often forward-focused.

“The beauty of a project like this is to try and make a technology that works in this environment. It’s not easy, but there is a certain democratisation in the process which we like.”

Wagner says they would like to implement a talent side to the platform as a way to promote new and upcoming names that don’t necessarily fit the traditional model mould. “We have clients that don’t want the 6ft-tall model anymore – they want someone with more personality or character. We [could be] a bit more loose in that section.”

Scagnolari is also keen to bring AI into the platform. For instance, if clients are doing a shoot with jumpers, they would be able to see sales data on how successful a certain model was shooting that item and how many products their campaign shifted. This could also work to help clients predict future model trends, such as a particular look like Cara Delevingne and her famous eyebrows.

“Some people understand what we’re doing and give us their blessing,” he adds. “It’s refreshing to see models come to us and say, ‘Thank you so much for what you’re doing.'”

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