We here at Fashionista are continually impressed by the efforts the Model Alliance is making to improve working conditions within the industry, so we’re teaming up with them to bring you the latest from their movement. We’ll be hearing from them about everything from broadening child labor laws to changing the sample size. Today, Coco Rocha tells us about her personal struggles in the industry and what makes a good model. Plus, we have an exclusive video of Rocha at a recent Model Alliance event giving young models advice on the importance of having the right agent and avoiding creepy photogs.

I came into this business knowing nothing about fashion. I was a young girl from Vancouver, Canada who wore boot cut jeans and an oversized sweatshirt every day to school. Becoming a model was never an aspiration of mine, but at 14 I was scouted at an Irish dance competition and after some initial resistance found myself modeling in Asia and working on my portfolio.

After that I moved to New York where I found the agents I still work with to this day and started down a path that would lead to working with some of the world’s greatest photographers and designers. I was pulled from relative obscurity and given an amazing international life, but it was not without its ups and downs.

There were times when I was very lonely and felt an enormous pressure from adults around me to give up values and beliefs I held dear. Through trial and error I learned my rights and I learned to stand up for myself. I realized the benefit of an ironclad contract. In my contract today I state that due to my religious beliefs I won’t shoot nude or sheer clothing, or with cigarettes, weapons or religious icons. Even after nearly 10 years I still I find occasions when clients will push the issue, making it uncomfortable for everyone. It gets better though.

As I’ve moved from being a girl to a woman, and now a married woman, I feel more and more confident in my own skin every day. It’s something that comes with age and experience, which is why I wish most models would start a little later than the usual 14 or 15-years-old when they are so vulnerable and easily influenced. 



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Behind-The-Scenes - Longchamp ‘You Should Be Dancing’

I posted the video last week and some of the images from the campaign yesterday. Now here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how we put it all together. Choreographer Salim Gaulwoos explains his inspiration and concept for the Longchamp woman. I have to say, working with Salim and the Longchamp team again was one of my favorite jobs of 2012. 

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THE FACE - TEAM COCO POSE-OFF!

I’m challenging all my followers to a pose-off! How many poses can you do? Enter this competition sponsored by my upcoming TV show The Face and you and two friends just may win a trip to NYC. And a photoshoot with Nigel Barker. AND possibly a billboard in Times Square! Intrigued? Record! Pose! Submit! And don’t forget to let them know you’re #TEAMCOCO when you enter! I can’t wait to see how you guys werk!

Xx
Coco 

Go HERE for more information. 

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Instagram - World’s Worst Modeling / Photography Agency?

As a model, I’m horrified by Instagram’s proposed new terms of service. As a human being I’m outraged. The new terms, set to go into effect on January 16th, pretty much grant Instagram free reign to do anything they want with your pictures and data. They can sell your username, your profile picture and any photos you’ve taken with the platform to anyone they want - oh, and you won’t see a penny of that sale. In effect, for me personally, they have become the worse modeling agency in history.

Here are some of their new terms laid out blatantly:

“Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you. If you are under the age of eighteen (18), or under any other applicable age of majority, you represent that at least one of your parents or legal guardians has also agreed to this provision (and the use of your name, likeness, username, and/or photos (along with any associated metadata)) on your behalf.”

Will public outrage be enough to stop this from going into effect? We shall see. I invite each one of you to repost this or speak out in your own way.

To read more, see BUZZFEED.COM or MASHABLE.COM. 

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ELLE KOREA - Behind-the-scenes

If you know me, I’m often the model jumping or dancing around on set. As much as I love relying on my dance background, I also like to play other characters from time to time. The problem is, often times a client books a model based on their previous successful work and then just ask them to repeat that. In doing so the model risks ending up typecast and having her career appear single faceted. For me to feel fulfilled as a model I like to change it up from time to time. My September editorials were a perfect example of this - I had the dance inspired Interview Magazine editorial, the B-Movie character I played in VS Magazine and this more relaxed and subdued editorial for Elle Korea where we decided to shoot pretty much the entire editorial with me either sitting or laying down.

Enjoy the behind-the-scenes video and have a great weekend too!
Xx
Coco 

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‘Hot Coco’ by Fashion Canada - Winter 2013 Editorial and Interview

Last week I put up the new Fashion Canada cover where I wore one of my favorite pink Valentino dresses of the season. Now I get to show you the editorial and interview in which I discuss family, values, my take on modeling and a little bit about my new show, The Face. I hope you enjoy it!  Xx Coco

P.s. Watch the official behind-the-scenes video HERE and my own personal (hilarious, if I may say so) iPhone video HERE. 

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Expanding Her Efforts to Be a Role Model

By Irina Aleksander for The New York Times

ONE afternoon in late July, traffic stopped in Manhattan so that a small parade of models could cross the street. They entered the Coffee Shop, a restaurant in Union Square, and descended to a dimly lighted subterranean lounge with leather banquettes and Champagne buckets filled with mini cartons of coconut water. The girls, most of them around 16 years old, wore shorts and tank tops along with chunky heels and too much eye makeup.

“These are really the babies, but to me, this is the perfect group,” said Coco Rocha, the 23-year-old model, who was there to give a lesson on modeling and social media. She was wearing slim black pants, black boots and a snug white blazer over an oxford shirt buttoned to the neck. Her red hair was pulled up into a neat topknot.

“Who here has a Tumblr blog?” she asked, addressing an audience of several dozen. Ten hesitant hands sprouted. Ms. Rocha smiled. “O.K., what we’re going to talk about in class today is how important it is to brand yourself.” Ms. Rocha, who used to teach dance to 4-year-olds, stood with one foot planted firmly in front of the other, pumping her right knee in the manner of a cabaret dancer as she spoke. “You cannot be just another pretty face,” she added. “Do you know how many girls there are in New York right now?”

More than just a pretty face, Ms. Rocha is one of the few models who has become known by just her first name. At a moment when the fashion industry has increasingly marginalized models — to anonymous, size 0 waifs, a life span of three seasons (that’s a year and a half in human years), and off the magazine covers in place of celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga — she has emerged as the model’s liberator.

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