Michigan Journal

Issue date: 10/9/07 Section: Features

As children, everyone has dreams about what their futures may hold - dreams of fighting fires, saving the world from alien invaders, and perhaps professional modeling. Of course, the sad truth is that fire is hot, the world isn't actually under alien attack and models have to be really ridiculously good looking…or do they?

Ugly/Rage Modeling Agency has been working its off-kilter form of fashion for over 30 years in the UK, and has recently chosen to try its luck stateside with UglyNY. Though perhaps it sounds like a joke, Ugly is dead serious about professionally representing what they see as a gap in the modeling industry. As a concept, the whole idea of ugly models sounds like an oxymoron. Ugly, however, has contracted its character models to the likes of Calvin Klein, Diesel and Vogue just to name a few. Ugly puts those names into the reach of people that look more like you and I than Cindy Crawford.

Ugly models specialize in modeling that just doesn't fit into the status-quo as defined between the pages of Glamour magazine. They represent models covered from head to toe in tattoos, models that never fit into a size zero and in general just about anyone who has unconventional character. This alternative approach to the fashion industry has worked small miracles for both the agency and its models.

Models from Ugly state that they find freedom in getting paid to be the people that they really are. These models don't binge and purge or count calories. The entire premise of this agency is that they live their lives and look on camera just as they would off camera. As a whole, the community that makes up Ugly models is both excited and proud to just be themselves no strings attached.

On the agency side, Ugly has a sterling reputation for supplying very specific models that are ordinarily hard to find in the industry. Prior to the establishment of Ugly, these peculiar subjects were virtually impossible for companies to find on short notice. In the past, the only way to find such character models was to hold open auditions and hope one of the 20 people who showed up fit the bill.

Ugly, however, is making the tedious task of finding these interesting people as easy as finding traditional models. To give you an idea of the diversity that Ugly represents, they have models from ages 18-100, from 4'1" to well over 7 feet tall, and as Ugly says: "No job is too big, too small or too outrageous."

With such overwhelming success in England, they have crossed the pond to try their hands stateside. Since setting up shop, Ugly claims that they have had an overwhelming response from both the industry, as well as from would-be models.

Ugly is currently holding open auditions in New York. So if you find that you couldn't squeeze into the pigeon hole of the established modeling world, perhaps you can try the back door: Ugly Modeling Agency.

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