Modelling Agencies Ranked By Prestige (Only By Selectivity/Exclusivity/Looks Level, NOT Headcount/Brand Relationships/Runway Flow)

Tier Holy Trinity - Elite, Wilhelmina, Ford

Tier Mount Olympus - IMG, Premier, Select, NEXT, LA, NY

Tier Mount Everest - Sutherland, Muse, The Society, Major, Heroes

----------------------------------------------------------- STEEP DROP OFF -------------------------------------------------------------

Tier Mount Kilimanjaro - Anything outside Big 4 FWs (NYC/London/Paris/Milan)

Tier Mount Rushmore - Diversity-focused Agencies (Loose height/weight/measurement/face requirements)

Tier Local Hill - Regional Boutiques

At the Holy Trinity level, you have the ultimate brand name within and out of the industry. You'll get looks from all Big 4 during on-cycle casting. Comp will also be above-street versus Mount Olympus agencies.

At the Mount Olympus level, you're a notch below the Holy Trinity but still with very powerful brand names and looks from all Big 4 during on-cycle casting. However, you'll lack the pure star power that Holy Trinity brings to the table as well as their exclusive relationships with certain shops (Hermes/Versace/Alexander McQueen/Prada).

At the Mount Everest level, you'll likely do fine come on-cycle casting across the Big 4, but you have a risk of settling for lower-tier FWs like Miami/LA/Toronto/Hong Kong/Shanghai/Tokyo/Seoul/Berlin. 

Past the Mount Everest level, you see a very steep dropoff with very few models placing on-cycle at Big 4, unless you're a strong standout (Perfect measurements, 9.5/10+ face, diversity, cultural fit) or your specific agency has a pipeline and/or a strong alumni base at Big 4 shops (think Dolce & Gabbana/Fendi/Burberry).

At the regional boutique level, you're mostly doing low value-add monkey work with inconsistent deal flow. The work you'll be doing will barely be considered high finance and you're taking a significant haircut comp-wise versus the higher tiers.