Off to China...

On June 17, Ashlynn flew to Shenzhen, China, where she was supposed to model for at least two months. While I had been very hesitant to send her there, the Vice President of IMG called me to stress how positive they were that this was a good idea. Sadly, things did not go well and the Chinese agency had Ashlynn in tears within days, saying that her thighs were too big, her hair was too blonde, and she was too tall. This was quite surprising since they had been sent recent measurements, photos and videos. They panicked when they realized she was discussing her frustrations with IMG and sent her home just two weeks after she arrived. After so many great experiences over the past year of modeling, it was very disappointing that the year came to an early close on such a sour note.

It was always interesting to see which photos the different agencies chose to feature on Ashlynn’s comp cards, her calling cards that are left behind at castings. I was surprised by this choice by the Chinese agency as the coloring was so yellow.

Here’s the back of the card, which used photos taken within the past six months: two from Australia, one from Seoul and one from Athens. The top middle photo was taken in 2016, just before Ashlynn’s 16th birthday. Considering how many photos were taken of her in the past year, many of which I managed to track down and send to IMG, I have no idea why IMG sent them such an old one to choose from. 

The Chinese agency was not alone in using old photos. I was completely baffled why IMG Sydney chose an even older photo for the front of her card—this was taken when she was just 14 years old. It seems like false advertising to present such an old photo.

At least the back was taken just two months before she arrived in Sydney. 

In late October 2018, Ace Models in Athens did the same thing with this photo of 14-year-old Ashlynn...

...plus three others from that same year. Only the top right photo was taken just one month before arriving in Athens with her new blonder hair. 

Also guilty was IMG Paris, which used two photos from when she was 14 for her comp cards during Paris Fashion Week. Granted, there likely wasn’t time to get cards printed after they arranged for her hair to be lightened, but surely they could have used some more recent photos.