If they are to reach their full potential, models must be equipped with the relevant entrepreneurial skills as it would signfifcantly boost their earning streams, Chief Executive Officer for Fashion Connect Africa, Victoria Micheals, has said.
According to her, many models have a limited career scope owing to a narrow focus on one aspect of the career, and must begin to diversify their portfolios, fully aware that modeling, is largely time-bound.
She made these comments at the launch of the two-day Fashion Connect Africa Model Bootcamp slated for the October 22 and 23.
The bootcamp aims at empowering child models, upcoming models, established models as well as fashion entrepreneurs with additional skills to generate multiple streams of income, whiles preparing them for global modelling opportunities, cultural shocks and social diversities.
Further bemoaning the lack of an adequate fashion industry ecosystem for models to gainfully monetize their craft on a consistent basis, she said, “This platform will help to give them the guidelines that are required for them to start those things that will help them create extra income.
This will be a life-changing opportunity for the models, it will provide them with different levels of additional skills, entrepreneurial training, capacity building, career best practices and also prepare them for a better future”.
The training will focus on providing tutorials on creating modelling Z-cards and portfolios. There will also be organised masterclasses on the importance of having the right management, placement, and agency, the necessity of pre-audition and casting preparations as well as capacity building on the importance of 360 grooming.
There will also be a dialogue session tagged ‘The Power Room’, an all-girls affair seeking to evolve models to modelpreneurs, as well as sessions on Modeling made in Africa; its challenges and opportunities and preparation for the future.