Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloe Cutter.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chloe. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was introduced to modeling at the beginning of 2018 by one of my best friends Quentin Anderson. He did photography on the side and asked me to collaborate with him for one of his projects. Growing up in a sleepy town in Northern Nevada, with a population of 5,000 people, being an aspiring artist wasn’t valued. He was the very first person to introduce me to modeling and planted a seed in my head that would grow into a huge passion of mine.
I put the idea of modeling on the back burner until August of 2018, when an LA-based photographer found me via Instagram. He saw my potential and took me under his wing, introducing me to the modeling world and getting me used to being in front of a camera. Until that point in my life, I never considered myself an attractive woman. I was 18 years old and hadn’t gone on a single date, had a first kiss or even asked to a school dance. Pursuing modeling as a career never crossed my mind until I saw what I could do in a professional setting. Until that point, I was certain I was going to make a life for myself from my artwork, my biggest passion has always been painting and expressing myself through traditional artwork.
From August to January, I drove to and from Los Angeles twice a month for photo shoots until the beginning of 2019 when I finally decided to move here. I woke up at 3am, got to LA by 11am, shot until 4pm, and drove all the way home, and usually ended up sleeping in my car at gas stations. These trips were brutal, but I was more than happy to do it, I’m a big believer in the idea that the amount of energy and dedication you put into something, that’s exactly what you’ll get out of it. I eventually moved to LA to pursue modeling and my mural work on the side.
In February, I was approached by a scout from State Management and signed to my very first agency not long after. Since then I have done more than I ever thought I could accomplish with modeling, I’ve been exposed to so many incredible people and have had some amazing opportunities, I have some very exciting projects coming up that I’m not allowed to speak in detail about, but let’s just say I’m very grateful and excited about my future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Many people assume being a model entails a glamorous lifestyle; beauty queens without a care in the world, makeovers, traveling, expensive lifestyles, and big paychecks. When you’re on the outside of the industry you only see the finalized photos and those 30 seconds of fame down the runway. What most people don’t see is what goes into those finalized pictures and what we have to do in order to get on that stage. The largest and most exclusive entertainment industry has some very dark secrets that aren’t addressed enough; from sexual, emotional, and financial abuse, to eating disorders, and problems with body image. I’ve been in this industry for less than a year and I’ve already experienced so many vile and appalling examples of these things.
Being a model, we are put into vulnerable situations, and men in these industries use us as perfect targets. I remember my second time shooting with a new photographer, in the middle of the shoot he asked if he could touch my breasts. I was shocked and didn’t know what to say at first, I ended up saying no and left soon after that, feeling absolutely disgusted with myself, thinking it was my fault, that I should’ve done something different to prevent that situation from happening. Though this situation was uncomfortable and intrusive, it wasn’t new to me nor as severe as something that happened to me months prior; a physical act of sexual assault. Something I do not like to talk about and not many people in my personal life know about. This happened fresh into my career, taken advantage of by someone I considered a close friend during a shoot. I only recently shed light on it after more girls came out with their own horror stories involving this specific man. Unfortunately my story isn’t one in a million, I constantly meet girls who have experienced unimaginable and disgusting situations similar to mine.
Modeling has also affected the way I see myself in the mirror, I’m 5’7 and 130 pounds, a perfectly healthy weight for my height and age. My waist measures 28 inches, and in the eyes of a runway director that’s comical when typical runway models have 23-24 inch waists. I’ve been rejected many times due to my body type, this naturally has planted some very toxic thoughts into my head. I’ve noticed that I’ve started to count calories for the very first time in my life, not only this but actually restricting my food intake and over exercising. I lost a concerning amount of weight in a short period of time, luckily I caught myself going down a very dangerous path and I’m now focusing on my health rather than my weight. Unfortunately, not many girls can say the same, anorexia and bulimia is rampant throughout the modeling community, most cases happen purely due to this industry telling us there’s something wrong with us. Modeling is such a competitive line of work and we can be easily replaced, the stakes are high and we risk our physical and mental health to succeed.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
So far my career has consisted largely of photo shoots, collaborations, and being part of different projects with other creative minds. A lot of my time is spent booking shoots, communicating with creative directors, and planning future ideas for collaborative projects, being in front of a camera is surprisingly a very small part of the process. I’m most proud of the confidence in myself that I’ve built, in the past I was known to be an extreme pushover and kinda just let things happen as they did. I’ve learned to make decisions for myself and take the reigns of my own life. Something that sets me apart from other visionaries is my lack of hair, both on my head and where my eyebrows should be. I’ve been shaving my head for almost three years now, I shave it in support of the cancer community. I believe that representation is so important in this day and age and I want to inspire others to embrace their individuality.
As a cancer survivor myself, I would’ve been so inspired to see a confident, bald woman rocking her look. I want to show those affected by cancer that they are being represented and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being different from the rest, living and dealing with illness is a sign of strength, and should be embraced. The lack of eyebrows is mainly for aesthetic purposes, I feel a lot more confident and empowered without them, there’s absolutely nothing about my physical appearance that hides my features and that’s how I choose to honor myself; no apologies.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Though the modeling industry has some major problems regarding body image and the safety of its models, I can say that I’m incredibly proud of the direction the community is going. Throughout the past, the runways and magazine covers consisted exclusively of models with a very specific body type, skin tone, height, face shape, and overall look. 2019 has been an absolutely incredible year for representation in the industry. Revolutionaries such as Aaron Phillip, a black, transgender, disabled model, Melanie Gaydos, a model with Ectodermal Dysplasia, and Madeline Stuart, an iconic model born with down syndrome, have stormed the modeling world. It’s such an honor to be able to watch history in the making, each day we grow more inclusive and break new barriers, and it gives me such deep inspiration.
In ten years, I fully believe that our entire beauty standard will be completely turned on its head, and diverse models will be consistently represented. There’s still major issues today and we have a very long way to go, but from what I’ve seen so far; I’m very hopeful for the future. We have come such a long way in such a short amount of time, and I’m so excited to see what’s in store for the modeling industry.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Soggybeans
- Twitter: Soggybeanss
Image Credit:
Natasha Riberio-Austrich – @natribaus on instagram; Johnny Scogins – @josco.visual on instagram; Ariel Fahey – @the_vintage_witch on instagram
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