How to Become a Model in Kharkiv: From Your Phone to a Shoot Abroad

You grew up in a city that was never provincial. Kharkiv is the vast constructivist geometry of Derzhprom, boulevards built for scale, university corridors, cafes where people argue about cinema and design until closing. It is a fast, clever, slightly audacious city, and it produces a particular kind of beauty — not sweet, but characterful.

That is exactly the face the industry is looking for now. Runway and campaign casting has grown tired of sameness: brands want a person on set — a look, a story, a confidence you cannot paint on with makeup. If you recognise yourself in that, your starting capital is already in your pocket.

Forget queues in corridors and expensive portfolios. For scouts to see you, all it takes is simple daylight photographs: one portrait and one full-length shot, no makeup, no heels, hair down. These are called digitals, and agencies love them more than anything else, because they show you as you actually are.

We put together a step-by-step guide on how to take digitals at home — you need a window, a phone and ten minutes. After that comes the online application: a few fields, your photos, done. Applying is free, a real person reads every form, and an answer comes within seven days. That is the whole casting — quiet, domestic, in your favourite jumper.

This is where it gets interesting. The team looks at your type: features, proportions, the way you move, the character in your eyes — the elusive something scouting exists for. Sometimes we ask for extra shots or a short video; sometimes we invite you to a video call to introduce ourselves, explain the divisions and hear what you actually want.

All of it happens remotely. You are in Kharkiv, in your normal rhythm, between classes and work, and your modelling story is already being written. When scouts see potential, a development plan is drawn up for you — and the first big step gets prepared.

This is the moment a dream turns into a flight schedule. Andrews test shoots take place abroad: girls chosen for the board are flown to another country, into a professional studio, to a team that works with new faces every day.

Your first shoot day looks like this: an early call time, a rail of looks waiting for you, the makeup chair, a stylist pinning a dress directly on you, soft studio light — and the first frame in which you suddenly see a model looking back. That is where a real portfolio is born: not amateur snapshots, but international-standard photographs the agency will use to present you to clients.

People imagine shooting as one long pose. It feels nothing like that — it feels like being part of a crew:

• The morning starts before sunrise: a taxi, coffee in a paper cup, a studio where the lights are already humming.
• Two hours in the chair — hair, skin, brows — watching a version of you appear in the mirror that did not exist an hour ago.
• Then music, the camera, short instructions from the photographer, and the one frame after which the room goes quiet.
• Lunch with the whole team, laughter, three languages at the same table.
• In the evening, the first previews on a laptop screen — and the realisation that this is genuinely you.

A few weeks later those frames become a campaign, a cover, a lookbook thousands of people will scroll past. A year later you will look back at them as the beginning.

After that the geography only widens. Andrews develops girls towards international placements — the markets where Ukrainian faces are valued more than ever right now. Brand castings, fittings, shows, campaigns, a billboard someone from your school photographs and sends you: that is a real trajectory for new faces who started with two phone photos.

We wrote a longer piece on how the path abroad is actually structured, from a mother agency to a contract in Paris or Seoul. The short version: it is closer than it looks.

Andrews is a women-only agency for new faces, with two divisions:

• Fashion — runway, editorial and campaigns; usually ages 16–26, height from roughly 173 cm.
• Creators — influencers, UGC and content; any age from 16, no height requirement at all.

No experience is needed — new faces are the whole speciality. Our guide for new faces walks through the rest. And if you are unsure whether you fit, do not make the decision on the scouts' behalf: send the photos and let them see what you might not see in yourself yet.

Walking home past the lit windows on Sumska, picture this: in a few months you could be walking through an airport with a booking confirmation on your phone, on your way to a studio in another country, to a team already waiting for you.

It begins with something almost absurdly small — a window, a phone, ten minutes, and one application sent this evening from Kharkiv.

Do I have to come to a casting in Kharkiv?

No. Applying and scouting are entirely online — you send phone photos and the scouts review them remotely. Your first professional shoot takes place abroad, and the agency organises that trip.

How much does it cost to apply?

Applying is free. Andrews only ever earns commission from real paid bookings.

Do I need experience or a portfolio first?

No. Andrews is an agency for new faces, so two simple daylight photos are enough to start. Your professional portfolio is built at your first test shoot abroad.

What are the requirements?

For Fashion, usually ages 16 to 26 and height from around 173 cm. For Creators, any age from 16 and any height — what matters there is how you come alive on camera.

How quickly will I hear back?

Within seven days. A real person reads every application and replies personally.