Helena Kornilova's new Mother Agency

It's today announced that Russian Newcomer Helena Kornilova whom is signed with Trump in New York, chose to sign with Verbmodels as her new mother agency.

Kornilova's global career will be managed by pre-eminent Verbmodels which represents a diverse list of famous faces.We had a quick chat with Uziel and this is what he had to say:

"Helena involves more than just pouting and walking the catwalk. She glows on and off cam and has the perseverance to become a strong model in this hugely competitive fashion industry. She’s a great smart person and is of course a very beautiful girl, and I’m really glad that I’m being paired with someone like her and excited to start working together, said Israeli entrepreneur and Verb's senior executive Matan Uziel."

"Verbmodels will keep castigating the fashion industry and their reliance on very young girls as the perfect size zero model", added Uziel.

Kayla Camstra: Interview with a model with the heart of a musician.

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SOMW: so Kayla...you seem to have the soul of a rockstar...
a musician, a music connoisseur if you will...how did you fall into modeling?

KC: Well it all started about about two years ago..... I moved to Brooklyn to go to Pratt Institute to study art as a painting major.
I was scouted while shopping in Soho. I eventually met with Trump and by the end of my 1st year in college...I signed on. I decided to take time off school so that I could try to pursue a career in modeling..

SOMW: so you are with Trump models at the moment?

KC: Yes.

SOMW: that's great...so back to the musician side...do you play any instruments?
are you a secret genius drum player?

KC: no. I wish I was that talented. My older brother is a musical prodigy. He doesn't know how to read music... yet he can play everything.
I tried to learn guitar... but I never got the hang of it. I've got a lot of love for music nonetheless

KC: I guess my brother kind of made me into a music snob..

SOMW: oh wow maybe we will get you a guitar for Christmas and maybe you are the Jimmy Hendrix of models and you do not even know...

KC: I can only wish

SOMW: so Ms. music snob...what is your 3 favorite bands..and what do you LOVE about them?

KC: #1. would most definitely have to be The Pixies. They have been my favorite band for so long. I love everything about them. Their sound is like an orgasm to my ears...!
It's just one of those bands I crave. So awesome so talented.... ahh

#2. Sonic Youth. they're crazy. the first concert I ever went to. and then the 2nd concert I ever went to...these guys know how to put on a show. I love how the songs never end and how they always have at least 20 guitars on stage. Every song is in a different made-up tuning

SOMW: Sonic Youth...yeah I have had the opportunity to hear some of their material they are AMAZING

KC:#3 huge Bowie fan. enough said.

SOMW: enough said...
SOMW: If you could invite ONE musician from any time to lunch, who would it be and what would you have for lunch?

KC: whew that's a toughy...(pauses for about a minute, biting her nails and rolling her eyes...)
I would probably ask Elliot Smith how he found the will power to stab himself in the heart. I would take him out to empanadas...just because I love empanadas.

SOMW: Elliot Smith and empanadas...I might just have to ask you to marry me LOL.

SOMW: Any recommendations for our readers? any top 5 recommendations you would strongly recommend everybody to listen to? something that you feel will change their lives...

KC: I don't know about changing lives..... but I definitely have some recommendations-- I'm really into DJ's also.

SOMW: what are your top 3 djs and top 3 rock bands?

KC: Diplo, Ratatat, J Dilla...for DJs

KC: and besides the ones I already mentioned.... Tilly and the Wall (the drummer is a tap dancer!), Animal Collective, and The Faint

SOMW: Ok well we shall definitely look into that and keep you updated...thank you for your musical intake and we hope to be hearing a lot more from you in the near future...

KC: awesome, thank you SOMW you guys are amazing...


-interview by Rogelio Castillo of SOMW

The Fear in Modeling; Some of the Scariest Part of the Business

There are a lot of things that can appear to be scary but they aren’t at all, and then there are things that you would think would be the least scary that really get to you. Here are a few I found pretty scary:

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the words “scary” and “modeling” is a model apartment during season, or even more nightmare-ish, model apartments during Fashion Week. Let’s see...back when I was with Trump Models in NY, they had this model apartment with two rooms and one bathroom. There were about 6 bunk beds (I am not kidding) in the rooms and around 15 models running around like crazy. Sometimes it would slow down to about 10 girls; but nonetheless, it was insane. We all had similar castings, fittings, and "go sees," so the ONE bathroom got old quick. The only easy part about that was when you’d pack to leave. Your suitcase would be half empty (from missing clothes), so you would have no problem packing to go home. That last experience at Trump was my last time at a model’s apartment, now it is fun as a memory, but nothing I would ever do again.

The second thing I can think of is kind of fun, but always scary at first. You always have to be up for drastically changing your look. In the modeling world, you are more of a mannequin than a person, so you have to update your style and overall look to fit in with each particular season and/or client. I remember the first time I changed my hair. It was down to my waist and whitish blond - never been dyed, just natural blond. My agency wanted it dark brown and shorter. So I went for it and did the dramatic change. In the end I liked it, but it took a while to get used to. Now it’s not so scary to me anymore, I have to talk myself out of wanting to change my looks all the time!

Another scary feeling kind of goes hand in hand with the last one I guess, because in modeling, your appearance is your job. But, I was always kind of scared and nervous when my agency would talk to me about what I needed to change or improve. Sure it was helping me, but it was always hard to hear. It could have been as small as,

"you need to lose a centimeter on your hips or waist”

or

"Ok, you’re too thin, your hipbones are protruding too far out.”

“You need your teeth fixed.”

“Here’s my dermatologist, go see him immediately.”

“Where did you get that dress? It’s horrible, I never want to see it again.”

There will always be something they try to improve, which can be good and even helpful, but hearing it can sometimes be scary - at least to me. This is especially true when it has something to do with something you can’t really change (well if you don’t want plastic surgery), like your nose (or mine). But, in the end, all these things that get your nerves and emotions worked up, usually end up helping you in your career.

Something that happens to me a lot, because I am a model, is I will “randomly” be selected for things. For example, public speaking, which scares the hell out of me! I remember the first time I was chosen out of a crowd of at least 5000 people. The lady who called me up told me I needed to sell the entire crowd on a McDonald's hamburger in 30 seconds. I will never in my life forget this, because it was supposed to help me be better in boldness and public speaking, but it was so embarrassing to me, and now when I do anything that has to do with pubic speaking I automatically remember it and laugh. It had a horrible outcome. I mixed all my words up, and was shaking the entire time. So now when I have to get on a microphone, I picture this little 13 year old (me) on a stage staring at thousands of people, knees shaking, talking about how juicy and delicious a hamburger it is, and I laugh. Unless of course I get to scream into a microphone, which has never been a problem for me...

The last thing I can think of that's always scary; even if it’s fun, is to pick your outfits mainly for special events. You never know what others will think of what you've picked out and it reflects upon you. Once again, since it has to do with your appearance, you get criticized more often than anyone else because you're a model. I mean unless you're Kate Moss, trying out your own ideas of fashion can be very scary. On the other hand, I love playing around with fashion, but I stick to more casual, simple clothes, rather than amazing fashion pieces because I am too nervous putting things together myself, and I honestly feel I should leave that up to the amazing stylists.