Watch out reality stars on magazine covers. We models are fighting back

Cindy Crawford has signalled the end of they modelling heyday, saying that magazines now prefer to put celebrities on their covers. Model Rebecca Pearson agrees - but explains how many models are now on the warpath

Not any more.

So when I saw Cindy Crawford’s comments, in ES magazine this week, that the modelling heyday was over, I found myself nodding wildly in agreement.

Crawford explained that magazines now prefer to have celebrities and “reality TV people” on their covers.

She’s right. Unfortunately for my peers and I, the success that models enjoyed in the 90shas now been usurped by celebs. Even in the last decade, the industry has changed beyond recognition.

I'm not opposed to celebrities featuring in campaigns, of course. That would be churlish. Charlize Theron, for example, looks exquisite in the Dior adverts.

But Justin Bieber for Calvin Klein? My heart sank when I saw the pop brat's picture, his body seemingly beefed up with retouching. Does the boy whourinated in a janitor's bucket and got his bodyguards to carry him up the Great Wall of China really make a good brand ambassador?

I don't think so - but his global fan base of impressionable girls and an enormous social media following meets the criteria required to be the face of a brand these days.

I asked my agency what they thought of celebrities taking model's jobs. Every single booker rolled their eyes.

"It's all about celebrity culture these days," said Kathryn, an ex-model and MD of Bookings, echoing Crawford's interview.

"When I was modelling, actresses didn't want to touch the work as they felt it would be detrimental to their art. Now there's no shame. It has a knock-on effect for us agents as well as models."

Once actors started doing campaigns for high-fashion brands, the top models were forced to take jobs for high street companies, meaning that each rung of the fashion ladder took a few steps down (and a big pay cut).

That celebrities will readily do jobs that they would have sneered at ten years ago - and fashion giants like Balmain employ reality star Kim Kardashian - has a truly detrimental effect on us models.

Since the recession, we're suffering the same 'race to the bottom' as many other industries - only ours is barely regulated and unionised, so any complaints about savagely cut fees are met with a shrug. Plenty of others are happy to take our place.

Do the increased sales that Vogue enjoys from putting Kim on their cover make up for any dent in their integrity? I suppose they must.

Of course, I know you’re probably reaching for a tiny violin right now. I realise that I’m in a privileged position.

But you know what? Models put in years of unpaid work and experience endless rejection to establish themselves. We work hard to earn our bookings, but quick fame from a reality TV appearance now seems like a shortcut to success.

Today, if clients are considering booking me, they immediately research my online presence (which is why some canny agencies are buying social media followers for their models).

They ring up the agency and ask, "but what does she DO?" Having endless legs just isn’t enough.

Look at the big girls of the moment: aside from pulling funny faces, Cara Delevingne is an actress and singer. Miranda Kerr has a cosmetics brand, and even Kate Moss has had to turn to designing clothing ranges for Topshop.

But I’ve got good news for Cindy. Many of us are fighting back,

I've retaliated by starting my own website, Modeltypeface.com, which offers advice to other models.

Instagram can, at times, seem like a semi-clothed and vapid popularity contest but my friend, Charlotte De Carle, has gained 36k followers thanks to her self-effacing pictures.

She takes pride in putting a lot of creative energy into her shots, and her unique style coupled with this huge following has caught the attention of brands: she recently booked a job where they asked, not for her hip measurements, but her social media tags.

I think the use of celebrities can sometimes be cheapening to brands. But it also suggests that consumers want to see faces that offer more than an impeccable bone structure.

Perhaps by meeting these new demands, we models can gain more control over our careers.

Not to mention that elusive quality we’ve never enjoyed before: a voice.