“Agents have favourites and certain girls fall through the cracks,” explains Peter Fitzpatrick, the founder of Swipecast a new app which has just launched for iPhone. “Wouldn't it be great if there was a way for a model to network and access opportunities in real time, in a safe environment?”

Put simply, Swipecast acts like Uber, allowing photographers, designers, stylists and brands to book models directly. Models simply upload a portfolio, then verified users filter by everything from hair colour to location. Rachel Finninger, a model that you might recognise from Gucci’s cruise 2016 show, described the app as “Facebook-meets-LinkedIn-meets-Instagram.”

Obviously this cuts out the middleman – agencies – meaning that if using this app catches on, the face of the modelling industry will change. Drastically. The pros? While agencies take a 33 per cent cut of a model’s earnings, Swipecast takes just 10. It also gives unsigned models the chance to book jobs. 

Fitzpatrick, who owns Silent Models, insists that the app won’t replace agencies. “But,” he tells The Business of Fashion, “The reality is that there are thousands and thousands of models that don’t have agencies. You also have models looking for an agency, say in New York, and their mother agency isn’t helping them much.” 

So what about the cons? Well, clients are able to leave feedback, rating the models on their ‘professionalism’, ‘appearance’ and ‘skill level’. It’s one thing to rate a cab journey out of five, but someone’s appearance? Even if they are, to quote Derek Zoolander, “professionally good-looking...”

But Swipecast isn’t the first example of how technology is changing the modelling industry. Last year, Marc Jacobs used Instagram to cast his AW14 campaign, inviting users of the app to upload photos with the hashtag #CastMeMarc. IMG Models have done the same, using the #WLYG (we love your genes) – over 50 models have been signed through this hashtag.