Don’t tell Gisele, but ugly is in.
At least that’s what a cattle call of characters with good personalities hoped for ye
sterday when they turned out to audition for Ugly NY – a modeling agency that claims to embrace “real people.”
The agency is always on the hunt for new faces – just not beautiful ones.
You can gain weight, go bald or let your wrinkles run wild and still get work.
Among the offbeat New Yorkers already signed to Ugly NY are Manny Yarbrough, a 6-foot-7, 600-pound behemoth who strikes sumo-wrestler poses, and buxom, blond transgender icon Amanda Lepore.
“It’s the twinkle in your eye, the ‘nudge-nudge’ factor that we want. If you’ve got character, we want to see you,” an agency spokeswoman said.
None of Ugly NY’s models is going to bank supermodel money, however.
Most of them model part time or freelance and have regular day jobs to pay the bills.
Still, some of the more expensive ad campaigns can bring in an extra $200 to $600 a day – more if the end result is going to be reused around the globe.
The agency, which opened in June, has already scored its models high-profile gigs, including ad campaigns with Levi’s jeans, Nike, Nokia, a VH1 promotion for the video game “Air Guitar” and a video clip for Jerry Seinfeld’s “Bee Movie.”
Two New York locals – Asher Suss and Michael MacNeal – grace the cover of the latest Time Out New York, and both of them are Ugly NY models.
The agency’s founder, Simon Rogers, based his creation on London’s Ugly Models, which for 30 years has been finding work for striking and nontraditional models.
Rogers found one of his newest models recently by approaching an overweight Hawaiian man he thought had a great look.
The man laughed in his face, but soon found himself on the cover of a magazine.
“We really think this is a new concept in America, and it reflects a recent shift in the advertising world toward ‘real guy’ mode, to people with character,” said an Ugly NY talent scout.
“You might not be Gisele, but you can still sparkle.”