Jaded London - Open Casting

Scrolling on Instagram, as I do, I happened upon an open casting call for Jaded London. Especially from such a big brand, my hopes were low that such an opportunity could truly be accessible to me, but mercifully, it was in London, where I’m studying for the summer. It was only advertised four days before the event, on their account with a significantly smaller reach. The call was intended to procure models for their upcoming sunglasses line, how wonderful.

@jaded_man on Instagram

I picked out my outfit the night before, which naturally was an event in itself. I went through the Jaded Man account, collecting colors, attitudes, and silhouettes, then attempting to project my personality into the Jaded universe. Jaded London as a whole is more commercial and product-forward, while Man is a lifestyle. It is messily layered, social, personal, cool-toned, pleasure-seeking, comfortable but sexy, casual though styled, and therefore authentic.

@jaded_man on Instagram

I arrived an hour and a half early to the casting, and there were around twenty people in front of me. Honestly, I was expecting a much longer line, especially considering the promised gift for the first 100 people. Going early proved worth it for the cloud coverage alone; it was cool and cloudy right up until I was let into the space, by which point it was significantly longer.

I wasn’t about to get all dressed up for nothing, so I tapped on the shoulder of the person in front of me, and we had multiple pose-offs in line while we waited. We talked about school and modeling and fashion. The time then passed quickly, and we eventually moved towards the rolling door of the rented studio space (an incredible marketing opportunity). All the hopefuls posted the line, the set-up, the glasses, their logoed mirror selfies, free photo strips, and merch, and reposted content from @jaded_man themselves.

We were ushered past the line barrier in pairs, towards a couple chairs where we filled out a brief photo release/contact sheet. Being a blank canvas by nature the room was white, with different areas for each stage of the process. Projected on the wall was a revolving video of each product from the new line at a surreal scale. After taking it in, 

I was then introduced to a facilitator who directed me towards the pedestals at the center of the room, each displaying a pair of the chronicled sunglasses.

Each model had their pick (mine all black, the shield lined with spiked studs), then waited briefly for the photo set-up to be available. The professional set-up included a stark white backdrop, spotlight, and crew. “Look at the camera, chin down, slowly face the side, and look back.” I perched atop the stool, in front of the white backdrop and facing the camera and lighting. Serve, turn, serve.

www.jadedldn.com

Family bike rides craned their necks looking down the line of mid-20s freaks in fur, denim, and silver, as the not-yet-models took selfies and pulled their pants down. Inside, I was then directed to a photo booth, where I again got my pick of sunglasses. The heavy metal glasses spoke to my soul once again, with the belted pair close behind.

On the way out, I received a “F*ck Me I’m Famous” branded tote, along with my pick of cheeky sloganed lighters and buttons. Since then, a few days later, the glasses launched on their website, and I was featured in an Instagram compilation reel of auditioning models on @jaded_man’s Instagram. Now that you've read this, you can say you knew me when 💋