About Us
AWARDS: The agency 1st Place Models is a so-called boutique agency, which means that we only take on selected models, looking for different types, but all in the high class range. The models are completely managed by us, as the agency is also a mother model agency.
Due to the boutique agency background, we attach great importance to the training and further education of the models. We have high standards of corporate identity and behaviour like nearly no other model agency.
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Due to this concept agency strategy, the agency has already been named best agency of the year 3 times by the AMC (2021, 2022 & 2024) and also took an excellent third place in 2023.
AESTETICS:
Some agencies in the top segment work with so-called ‘aesthetics’. This means that they provide a collection of mood boards for any collaborations (freelance projects, TFP shoots) that correspond to the overall look that the agency wants for its models. Photographers who are not willing to shoot with this Moods, or whose style does not match these aesthetics of the agency (or where the quality of the photography is not sufficient), will not receive models on a co-operation basis, but can of course still book models.
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We are very clear that we use Aestetics, because we know exactly what we need to build an international portfolio. Every shoot simply has to have added value for the model, if it doesn't help to improve the portfolio, the model is welcome to be booked for assignments, but then it makes no sense to work for freelance projects.
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We are generally open to collaborations, but we take a very close look at whether this is beneficial for our models and check the photographers' portfolios. And we do this as well through the filter of the aesthetics. You are welcome to send requests for co-operation to info@1stplacemodels.com, please make sure to include a portfolio or a link to the portfolio.
MAGAZINE COVERS: Our 1st Place models have been featured in numerous national and international medias.
An overview of the media coverage would be too extensive, but we have a selection of several national and international magazine covers featuring our models on our dedicated COVERS page.
HUMANISM: The agency is politically independent, but is based on the values of humanism. And we are clearly committed to them! For us, humanism means that models are not just one number of many, but are valued as human beings and individuals. We take a very close look at which models we choose to include in our agency, talent alone is not enough.
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UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY is what we live by, without giving the word diversity a perverse twist of its original meaning. For us, diversity means that everyone must have the same opportunities, but that no one is favored because they conform to a certain counter-trend. For us, unity through diversity means that a group works best when different characters work together, because they do not see themselves as competitors due to their differences and therefore work hand in hand. The best way to build a structure is when the bricks are very different.
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That's why we have a wonderful group dynamic among our models, who support each other and have become friends, even a second family. #1stplacemodels #1agency1family #1stplacefamily #trvb
INTERNATIONAL FASHIONWEEKS
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1st Place Models was founded at the end of 2019 and models from the agency have been working at major fashion weeks right from the start. As with most agencies, there was sometimes one here, sometimes one there, then maybe three there, but it was within the statistical average (at least for Austrian agencies).
Since autumn 2024, however, this has changed completely - and we have literally flooded the big fashion weeks with models. Even though we only ever had around 30 models - you don't need to be a maths genius to see how big the chance is for a 1st place model to walk at a fashion week in the top fashion metropolises. And it's deliberately calculated that way - because the motivation is not ‘how much money will we earn’, but to give as many of our models (and designers!) as possible the opportunity to take part in big fashion weeks, to get the chance of the big stage.
22 out of 30 models in London, 16 out of 30 in Milan and lots of great (Austro) designers - these are the statistics I'm interested in. This has resulted in further top bookings and successes for the models, as we have just seen again with the Cosmopolitan Thailand cover for Elsa.
Thank you to everyone involved who has helped along the way, you have helped to fulfil the dreams of many young girls and make the Austrian designer scene visible worldwide. We'll be rocking Paris in autumn and there are already big plans for spring 2026... We're just getting started, but that's not the end of it!
