Gen Z Gets Its Own Class of Supermodels

With her latest music video, Doja Cat is repeating fashion history.

Made to look like a 1980s makeup ad, the video for her new song Gorgeous featured a cast of top models, including a slew of relative newcomers like Sora Choi, Paloma Elsesser, Ugbad Abdi, Mona Tougaard, Anok Yai and Alex Consani. On YouTube, the comments — over 10,000 of them — were effusive, drawing comparisons to George Michael’s iconic 1990 video for Freedom, which featured Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz, cementing the fivesome as the faces of the decade.

It was a fitting showcase for a young cohort of models that has emerged as something of a modern equivalent to the “supermodel” and, like their predecessors, are increasingly crossing over into mainstream culture.

While anonymous “clothes hanger” types became standard in the 2000s as the industry favoured celebrities for campaigns and covers, and many of the big names that emerged in the 2010s received a boost from their “nepo-baby” status, today’s supermodels are similar to the originals. They’re somebody who knows how to take a picture, said Amber Venerable, creative director at Allure who led a cover shoot with Yai and Consani, but have a personality that transcends the medium.

They’re also keenly aware of the responsibility that comes with their platform; the question is whether or not they’ll be able to use it. For all of their transgressive ideals, the beauty and fashion industries remain largely Eurocentric. As Consani told Allure: “There aren’t that many trans or Black people who get recognition, so when you have a voice, people put so much pressure on what you say.”

The social and political climate of the current moment doesn’t help. The body positivity movement has waned in step with the adoption of new weight loss drugs. Identity politics, especially surrounding Black and trans bodies, have become radioactive in places like the US, where diversity measures have been rolled back or openly attacked by the highest reaches of government.

“There’s this very corporate, very white hedging of girls who are sellable and desirable,” said Blakely Thornton, a fashion industry observer on social media.

“The actual community is like, ‘No, they’re not, stop it.’ It’s a mirror of what’s happening in politics.”

But as Gen Z seeks “a voice, realness and continued diversity,” as hairstylist Lachlan Mackie put it, there’s pressure on the industry to evolve — and the models are ready to meet the moment.

“What I’m seeing is a want to be authentic and transparent and not perfect,” said Mimi Yapor, vice president at IMG Models, where Consani is represented. “It’s yet to be determined how the fashion industry will or won’t ride with those types of talent that are authentic and that are not hiding their real POV.”

Self-Made Supermodels

This generation of supermodels got their start the old-fashioned way.

Consani and Tougaard were signed to their first agencies at 12; Yai was discovered at 17 after she was scouted by a professional photographer; Abdi was a Target cashier in Des Moines when she was discovered on Instagram; and Elsesser was waiting tables when her friend, the fashion editor Stevie Dance, suggested she model as a side gig.

While fashion has gravitated towards models with famous last names in part because of the inevitable press coverage, these women have become a proven conversation-generating asset all on their own. The Allure cover starring Yai and Consani generated more than twice the Instagram engagement of the magazine’s other cover in the package, which starred Selena Gomez.

That these are self-made models, who didn’t already come from the world of celebrity, adds to their authentic appeal.

“When we moved away from this sort of name-recognition supermodel and have now moved into this narrative-based one, the audience has responded resoundingly,” said Kendall Werts, co-founder of creative talent agency The Jeffries. “Their name recognition is because of themselves, not because of a family name.”

It also helps that they’re more vocal than ever, and are able to connect with fans and followers on social media. That’s typically the launchpad for their fame beyond fashion circles — Consani, for instance, worked as a model for years before she began earning more attention for her hilarious (and often unglamorous) TikTok videos.

Today’s models “have to do a lot more and say a lot more,” said Anita Bitton, a casting director and founder of The Establishment agency. “The previous generation, you saw them before you heard them.”

But like with the OG supers, the shared experiences between these models have helped build a sense of camaraderie. In the Allure interview, Consani and Yai squashed a minor item of fashion industry gossip surrounding the 2024 Model of the Year Award, which went to Consani. Yai, who had been nominated every year since 2019, voiced her frustration on X. “British Fashion Council, thank you but I don’t want it anymore,” she wrote.

There were no hard feelings with Consani. “The whole thing has actually brought us closer,” Yai told Allure.

Can Supers Come Again?

The changing dynamics of fashion, however, have changed what it means to be a supermodel today. As the industry increasingly reflects culture, rather than shapes it, who becomes a supermodel is different, too.

“In the past, whether you go back to Veruschka or Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington, [the supermodel was] always defined by fashion itself and then eventually they trickle into the mainstream,” said Vicky Yang, who leads Business Intelligence & Talent Forecasting at The Society Management. “Now, the people who originally defined the moment are looking to the masses to be like, ‘Who do you guys want us to support?’”

Modelling in 1990 versus 2025 feels “like two different industries,” said Bitton. “Back then, it was an icon that was developed through this very exclusive, VIP, behind-the-velvet-rope type thing. Today, it’s all about exposure.”

With enough social media engagement, any beautiful person can transcend the fashion industry — but that doesn’t necessarily make them a supermodel, especially when the originals are still hard at work opening shows and anchoring campaigns.

She also points out that, in a luxury downturn, some of the most lucrative contracts come not from designer brands but more mass market retailers— the most recent H&M campaign, for instance, shows Consani and Tougaard being papped around London.

Bitton wonders if our age of hyper consumption — of clothing, of content, of culture — is at odds with the same one that produced Supers three decades ago. The new guard, she said, “is on the same trajectory. They’re making the same impact.” But the word supermodel doesn’t fit easily.

“I might even call them entertainers,” she said.

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