hiiii! I just saw a video on the "Prada effect" on TikTok and there were a few things that
I found a little bit troubling that I wanted to talk about today. first and foremost, this
video in general and a lot of other videos that kind of are about that topic on Tik
Tok are quite strange, especially when you look at the comment section
we will get to that a bit later... right now I'm going to just explain what the hell the
Prada effect even is. by Prada effect I do not mean Prada's 50s look in the 80s, or
their commentary on Italian fashion of 30s and 40s or anything like that. I'm talking
about what is discussed in this particular TikTok. "then Eastern Europe opened up. when
that block fell down and Scouts started going into Eastern Europe, that's when it starts to
change. you have models who were all the same height, all the same race, and all the same shape
The Prada effect. it happened to Calvin, it happened to jil sander, and he would just have these parades
of white girls. Miuccia Prada, is that she basically said, all right I just want all the girls to look alike"
I think there's a lot of people that I noticed in the comment section that were kind of uh creeping
me out a little bit... in terms of their reactions to all of that. first and foremost, they always say
there's a lot of comments that say things like "I wish we would go back to that", they say things
like "Eastern European models, they just knew how to work, they were so much more hard working", and other
things like that, and as much as I like- I do think that those models were hard working, I'm not here
to take that away from them or anything like that, I just want to talk about the modeling industry
in general, and the Prada effect, and how it affects people, since I am from a place that is oftentimes
targeted by Scouts and other things like that. I kind of thought that we should talk about this. I
just saw like a mini documentary yesterday on this topic, and the documentary literally focused on the
city that I'm from, so to me this whole thing was all too familiar. there's a lot of hopes that kind
of came to be in the early 2000s and in the 2010s Mostly because of the success of Natalya vodianova
there's just a lot of shit that goes on behind the scenes. first and foremost, this is an
industry that siphons a lot of money off of people, knowing that two out of 10 for example, or one out
of 10(girls) would actually have a chance of working at all, even in Asian markets, I'm not even talking
about European markets, um... they kind of scout people knowing that a lot of them are... they're
not like serious about them, and they just want them to pay for headshots, for classes on walking, on posing
to pay for photoshoots, other things like that, to build a portfolio, right, and then they will
say "well, we did not get any offers for you, or we don't have anybody interested in hiring you
in any Market. it is what it is, right" those people that run those centres, they never lose money. they
either get girls paying for those classes, for those photoshoots and everything, or they get
those girls paying, and then they get commissions of those girls making money. I've had experience
of a lot of my friends being scouted, I've been scouted myself too, but I knew that I was too short
for- for working in the industry, and I'm also not the type of person who would starve myself or anything
like that. and I also realized later in my life, that I like control over everything in terms of
production, and I'd rather be in positions of a creative director or something like that, where
I actually have an influence on everything, rather than be told what to do. I really don't like being
told what to do, and I think that this job is definitely one of those industries that are
very difficult to exist in, if you have any sort of opinion on anything. like you have to just kind
of keep it to yourself the entire time, and I just don't really want to do that. the worst
parts of this industry is the fact that everyone was scouted very young, and by very young I don't
even mean 16-18. and I don't even mean 14. I mean literally 12. that was- I mean maybe I was even
11 when I got my first, you know, card. I think I was probably 11... and also my friends were also
getting scouted at around that time, if they were, you know, being scouted. and um you're literally
a child, your understanding of what is possible is obviously not very well established. the worst part
of it all is that there are terrible agencies that are basically lying to people that they are
even a modelling agency. there are a lot of modelling agencies, that are actually you
know, scouting and everything, however, there's a lot of predatory people in the-- in any industry
really, but in this industry specifically, because they are looking for children to exploit. they
are looking for someone so young that it would be extremely easy to get them to do anything. there's
a lot of pressure, there's a lot of random shit that happens. like you would come to a class for
walking or whatever, or for like taking photographs, and they'll start doing really random shit, where
they would be telling you to act provocatively or to pose in a more sexual way or whatever, because
they are genuinely making everyone look like they are grown women. you probably noticed that in a lot
of images of models from that era where you would be looking at a picture, and this woman looks like
she's 25, and then you look at the actual age of the model and she's like 13, and it's all
because like they put tons of makeup on them and they make them pose in a way that would be very
fuckrd up for a child to be in. because they Scout girls so young, they are basically scouting them
at a time where they should be in school, right, so if they actually win a contract or anything
like that, they have to leave in the middle of the year. I had friends who would leave school
to go and model and the worst part is that you don't make that much money, and even if you
are one of the lucky ones who actually starts making money, and that's such a small fraction
genuinely, the problem is that you have to pay so much for accommodations and other shit like that
that at the end of the day it's not that much money anyway, but it is money, and and the thing
is oftentimes... they Scout not only in Siberia, but they like to go to very very small villages, you
know, where everything is broken down and like they find families that are in a very very
dire situation, and they offer something- sometimes they straight up lie about what they're offering
and those children are going abroad without any supervision from their parents, with a bunch of
people who make money off of them, and who-- it's in their interest to abuse them, so of course they do
it, because there's so many horrible people around. now check out this clip. Creep: "here during the Soviet
Union you know, when- once you've got your education, everything was planned. you get your degree, then
you do this job, you get this standard salary, so hardly anybody challenged that. it was a very stable
boring lifestyle. but these younger girls, they don't want that. they're far more creative, they
want to be someone in life, unlike their mothers." Interviewer:"with so much money on offer, and the girls being so
young, I can't help but wonder if people ever take advantage of them. so these other agencies then,
are they essentially setting these girls up to the be es-orts?" Creep: "no no, what they do is they find wealthy
boyfriends for these girls", he goes "no of course it's not escorting they find them Rich boyfriends"
okay... this guy pissed me off to no end when I was watching this, I was like God... it's just
he's so sleazy! I want to punch him! like he just pisses me off so much, just looking at
him makes me angry. it's just so sad. There were so many opportunities before perestroika
in 1992, and now he tries to portray everything in this way... honestly this is the rhetoric that's
out there the past 30 years or so. you know like this guy, this dickhead who's exploiting children
who is genuinely out there to send little girls abroad in situations where they are very likely
to be abused. Creep: "we're giving them an opportunity in life to become someone, to do something more
important." Int: "so would you do that?" Creep:"what would the girl do in Krasnoyarsk? you have to understand one
thing, that for a Russian to go abroad in general, even as a tourist, is a huge Advantage, because they
need visas literally to go anywhere, so it's a great opportunity for their daughters". of course
he's cap*talist's favourite, because he just rides their dick so well. he doesn't mind doing
the most horrific things to these girls, sending them wherever, absolutely ruining their health
ruining their chances of having a good education or anything like that, because they have skipped
school to go and do this, and all for his benefit, his profit, right. a saviour my ass!! the problem with
all of this is obviously the exploitation, right, it's obviously the fact that girls are getting
paid next to nothing, it's also the fact that sometimes girls get agencies that are-- or, or you
know managers that are absolutely fucking insane, like crazy, you know, who take their passports. that
was like a thing that I heard that happened quite often with those types of managers or agencies
where they would send these girls abroad, who are like from 12-16 or 18, years old, right, and they would take
their passports and tell them that you will not go back home, you won't be allowed to go back home
if you don't work, and if you don't do this or that, and sometimes, obviously, that would, in really bad
situations, that involved SW in general, right so. Model:"yeah, but you have tickets, then flights per month,
you don't understand what is in the contracts, you don't have a lawyer. all you have is 10%, so you're
making a lot of money but you never get them. some girls don't know what to do and they
put themselves in trouble." Int: "what sort of troubles?" Model: "I mean, they actually selling the girls for guys you
know just to hang out with these guys, and they pay the Bookers. some girls, because they're
scared, because people say I will not give you passport, you will not go to your motherland, you
have to make money, and you have to find a way to make money, and it's the reality. real reality
of this fashion industry". just so like gross to me, that this era is glamorized, because of these
reasons, but we also have to talk about the fact that so many comments and like under those videos
are so fatphobic and most of all, so creepy eu*enics related. girl like just just the most r*cist shit
you've ever fucking seen, and that's the thing that I kind of hate as someone who is Eastern
European, is that oftentimes some people who seem to be you know like normal, acting normal with you,
are sometimes like way too comfortable thinking that like--- you think that they just complimented
you, complimented your like hair or your skin or I don't know, whatever it is, you know, you just think
that it's a compliment, and then you kind of find out that they are actually a very terrible person
who like has some like white Suprem-sist shit going on in their heads. very very creepy. there's a lot
of this weird attitude in the west going on as well, where I honestly wouldn't wish it on my
like worst enemy to be one of those girls who were sent abroad in that kind of manner, I mean those of
them who got lucky, who actually got to work with big companies, with big brands or whatever, I hope
that their experience wasn't horrible. there's so many shitty people out there it's kind of crazy
I honestly... it's very disappointing. when I was watching these Clips yesterday to just kind of
prepare for this video to like freshen up my memory you know, I was just getting so angry
and it's just not good for me, just not good for me to be watching any of that, it's just fucking
sad in general, because nobody- it's also like one of those things where even this journalist when
they go and report on these things, the way that they act and everything sometimes can be a little
disrespectful too. the way that they look at people that they report on, it's kind of like-- it's not
even pity, but it's just something so gross about it. and um and this whole like attitude of as
if they are some kind of Saviours, when in reality, the reason why those girls even need like saving
from those dire situations is because of their countries. there's obviously a lot of girls from
all around the globe who have been exploited by the fashion industry, and honestly fashion industry
needs like a bit of a check-in, someone needs to whip it into shape from time to time, because
I think that because of what fashion looks like from the outside, because of how glamorous it is
in quotations, a lot of things get kind of- they kind of slip under the Radar, a lot of things are
just kind of covered up for the sake of keeping the facade you know looking perfect. I just think
that all of this is incredibly shallow, incredibly disturbing, and I genuinely hate everything about
people who function like this guy, or like many other brands and companies and stuff like that
it's just very gross and obviously, exploitation of women is not like something new, but I just
think that we should maybe think a little little bit more about things that we are glamorizing
obviously those models worked really hard, there's no doubt about it, but I personally just think that
I don't think anyone wants to go somewhere and not be able to speak their language or participate in
their own culture or anything like that, it's just kind of a thing that you're forced into. sometimes
even when you do want to travel or you do want to work in this- you know in this
industry, you don't want to be working in those environments, you don't want to be working in an
abusive environment, and it's just disturbing to me that it's very very young girls girls who wouldn't
even understand right from wrong because they're so young, and this whole Prada effect seems quite
strange, because Miuccia Prada just wanted to have her work be the focus point of the runways
but I feel like- that's why she was getting you know a lot of similar looking
girls, and and why there was like a problem with a lot of white models being used, like 80 percent
for example with some Runway shows or whatever. I also think that those people that would get distracted
by the celebrity of a model are not people who would understand your work if those garments were
on somebody who's not well known. those people who get distracted by a celebrity are not going to be
paying that much attention to your collections or to your work in general. anyway, I don't know
why there was even a conversation about this in general, I'm not sure if this is just a stereotype
that kind of was really forced upon miuccia, but I I don't- I don't know. I think this entire thing is
freaky. as much as I would have wanted to talk about it in really great detail, I also just
get very angry talking about it, and I really don't feel like having fights with people in
the comments or anything like that. I just wanted to mention this because as someone who is Eastern
European, and in is in the west, I wanted to talk about it a bit, because you need to cut that shit
out and especially cut that shit out in terms of uh being white supr**acist or being r*cist
or being fat phobic. and for some reason thinking that fetishizing Eastern European girls and like
trying to interact with them is something that we want if you're one of those people... like we
don't. just saying. I am working on a bunch of things, the podcast obviously, I've been teasing
it for a while I know, I just want to have a few episodes lined up so I can you know keep up with
the schedule. so season two is coming, there are new pictures for the season, for season
two, new Banner, everything, and I'm also working on another project that is about a fashion Art
Exhibit, and another big thing is coming next week, I'm very excited about it! let me know
if you have any experience with this modelling industry and what do you think about the fact
that education needs to be interrupted for this work. thank you to my patrons, and I'll see you guys next time, bye!